


Marry Me (because I'd like to date you)

by SailorHeichou



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Humor, Boss!Levi, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Engagement, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, French-Speaking Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), German Eren Yeager, Insecure!Levi, Levi is kind of an asshole in the beginning, M/M, Slow Build, TW: Panic Attacks, The Proposal AU, assistant!Eren, gratuitous use of the word fuck, mentions of minor character death, rating will change in later chapters, sassy!Eren, tw: Mentions of Suicide, tw: anxiety attacks, tw: mentions of depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:52:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 191,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3799153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorHeichou/pseuds/SailorHeichou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is a workaholic with no social life outside of work. Eren is his sassy Assistant of almost three years. When Levi is passed up for a big promotion because of his status as a single bachelor, Hanji decides to help him out by lying about his engagement to his assistant Eren. The only problem is that Levi and Eren can barely stand each other. </p><p>Or the story in which Levi lies about being engaged to his attractive assistant and now he has to go to Germany for a whole weekend to meet Eren's entire family. What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We're Engaged?

**Author's Note:**

> Long time no update, eh, SnK-Fandom?  
> Well, let me just start off by saying that I've been M.I.A. recently because of some personal issues as well as technical issues so I haven't been able to update any of my fics because of that mostly.  
> Second of all, I just want everyone to know that I am **NOT** abandoning my other ongoing Ereri fic Savages. I will still update that one. I promise!  
>  But for now, I needed a fun, lighthearted fic to get my mind off of my personal issues and so this monstrosity was born.  
> Expect plenty of fluff and humor, maybe a little crack mixed in as well. 
> 
> So, anyway. Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> **P.S. Yes, this was inspired by the movie The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. No, I'm not claiming any rights to this. SnK belongs to Isayama. The Proposal belongs to whoever wrote the screenplay for it, which unfortunately wasn't me.**

It was going to be one of _those_ mornings, Levi decided. From the moment he woke up this morning and subbed his toe while getting out of bed, to the moment he walked through the doors of Smith  & Dok Advertising, took the elevator up to his office on the 23rd floor and walked in to see his Executive Assistant standing shirtless in his office with a soiled white button up shirt in one hand and a clean powder blue button up shirt in the other. Now, it wasn't any little secret in the office that Eren could be a little clumsy when he was in a rush, and he was _always_ in a rush.

As the Assistant to Levi Ackerman it was practically in Eren's job description to always be in a hurry. In this case, it didn't take Levi very long to figure out the situation at hand and put two and two together. Still, the raven stood in the doorway of his office simply admiring the view of his assistant's prominent abs as the taut muscles rippled underneath sinfully smooth caramel rich skin. Levi couldn't deny that Eren Jaeger was indeed a very attractive young man and no doubt very easy on the eyes, but that was about all that Levi found appealing about the other man. 

Cool grey eyes followed the dips and valleys of Eren's flat stomach as he arched in order to slip the new shirt on over his exposed torso, covering up Levi's gorgeous view. It might have been just the tiniest bit inappropriate for Levi to be ogling his assistant whom he had no romantic relationship with whatsoever. In fact, their relationship could be described as nothing more than two people who worked together and just barely tolerated each other. But if anybody noticed Levi staring, and Levi was fairly certain they didn't, no one dared say a thing. 

Once Eren was properly dressed, button up shirt left untucked as he slipped on a [striped cardigan sweater](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a5/8f/4c/a58f4cee664913d9d49a801f2d89aeb9.jpg) over his head carefully, Levi cleared his throat to announce his presence, albeit a bit belatedly. Eren startled at the sound, slightly jumping before slowly turning back to see Levi standing in the doorway with his arms crossed tightly across his chest and his most unimpressed look directed at him. Levi tried not to stare at the way Eren's trachea bobbed up and down as he swallowed nervously. 

"Care to explain why you're using my office as your own personal dressing room, Jaeger?" 

The brunet cracked a sheepish smile, "Just a little unfortunate run in with a door." he explained. 

Levi only arched a single eyebrow as he studied the soiled shirt still in Eren's hand. It looked like it had coffee stains and Levi was right in his earlier assumptions that his clumsy assistant had indeed spilled his usual morning fix of starbucks coffee. Well, in all honesty, Levi wasn't all that upset about the spilled coffee. He was sure his expression probably said otherwise but there was nothing he could do about that. That was just the way his face always looked. Tired and uninterested. 

The raven sighed as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and straightened his posture before taking quick strides into his office. He approached the large oak desk and sat himself in the big leather swivel chair situated behind it. He kept his gaze off the brunet man who stood stiffly at the center of his office, waiting for Levi to give him orders like a programmed soldier. 

"Whatever. Just get me a black tea from the cafe across the street and be back here in 20 minutes or less. We have a lot of fucking work to do before this staff meeting later." 

"Gotcha, boss." 

Eren was gone in a flash and Levi silently watched his retreating figure from over the top of his glasses. When Eren was out of sight, he sighed and massaged his temples already feeling frustrated and he'd only been in the office no more than ten minutes at best. He wasn't lying when he told Eren they had a lot of work to do today and with a big promotion looming over Levi's head, the raven-haired man was determined to ensure that the position went to him and not any of his rivals. He felt confident that the position would no doubt go to him, and as shallow as it sounded, he was more than sure that his long time friendship with his boss Erwin would definitely ensure the promotion went to him. No one else in this company knew how hard Levi worked better than that of Erwin Smith himself. 

To his surprise, Eren was back in only under fifteen minutes. Levi knew for a fact because he had mentally timed Eren in his head. The brunet was breathing heavily but he had a triumphant grin on his face as he handed Levi his tea and waited for any further instructions. 

"Hm," Levi hummed as he lifted the rim of the cup to his lips to take an experimental sip. "Not bad." 

Eren's grin widened at this for he knew that simple 'Not bad' comment was as close to praise as he would ever get from his boss. 

"If that's all you need, boss. I'll be getting back to my desk now." Eren announced as he began to retreat to out of the office, that wide grin still plastered on his face. 

Levi said nothing as Eren exited his office but as he turned the plastic cup around in his hands, he noticed handwriting on the side of the cup and he immediately frowned. 

"Eren," he called in a low sing-song tone of voice. The brunet in question halted, going stiff in the doorway as he slowly turned around to see the expression of displeasure on Levi's face. "Who the fuck is Mylius and why is his number written down on the side of my cup asking me to call him?" 

"Uh," was Eren's intelligent response. "Well, you see, Mylius is the barista at the cafe across the street and I sometimes go there for my morning coffee. I guess he thought the tea was for me and wrote his number down and... yeah." 

Levi blinked at Eren slowly as the brunet trailed off, his hands fidgeting at his sides. Finally, Levi lifted the cup up in front of him as if studying the thing and Eren waited with bated breath to see what the man had to say. 

"Huh." Was all Levi said as he turned the cup around in his hand, continuing to scrutinize the offending paper cup and then he was moving the cup so that he was holding it just above the waste bin by his desk. Eren watched as Levi dropped the full cup of liquid into the trash with a small splash. "Get back to work, Jaeger." Levi said as he abruptly dismissed the brunet without so much as another glance and Eren gave a small frustrated sigh before he finally left the office. 

\- ▼ -

"Levi, the staff meeting is starting in fifteen minutes." Eren reminded Levi a few short hours later.

The man in question stood up from his spot behind his desk and with quick meaningful strides. Levi exited his office with Eren following right behind him. He removed the reading glasses that were still perched on the bridge of his nose, slipping them into the pocket of the black blazer he [wore](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/42/74/6e/42746ec9223fec113cb59830ecbf181e.jpg) into work that morning, adjusted the collar of the black turtle neck he was wearing before smoothing back neatly groomed onyx hair. His shiny black Chelsea boots clacked noisily against the polished floors as Levi made his way through the floor, past cubicles were his subordinates did their best not to make any eye contact with the man lest they be reprimanded for slacking off. 

Levi was famous around Smith & Dok Advertising for running a tight ship, almost to the point where it was military. As he walked through out the floor, making his way toward the elevators, several people went out of their way just to avoid crossing Levi's path as he strode through the corridors with Eren following closely behind. Levi kept on his usual mask of indifference as he surveyed his surroundings, running a pale slender finger along the edge of one young girl's cubicle and stopping abruptly when he found a thin layer of dust coating the pad of his index finger. 

"Oi," Levi addressed the girl before sharp grey eyes found wide frightened blues. The girl couldn't be any older than twenty at best, her ginger colored hair was tied into low twin-braids that hung over her shoulders. A light dusting of freckles going across her fair skin and Levi could practically hear the way she gulped. "How long have you been working in this department?" came the unexpected question from Levi's lips and the girl seemed confused by his inquiry. 

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Ackerman?" 

Levi inhaled deeply through his nose and gave a long exasperated sigh as he rubbed at the dust between his thumb and index finger. Eren cleared his throat, about ready to remind Levi that they didn't have time for his usual daily scheduled 'scare-the-shit-out-of-my-subordinates-and-make-them-cry' acts.

"I asked, how long have you been working in this department?" he spoke a little more slowly, almost patronizingly as if he were speaking to a small child that had no basic concept of the English language. 

"S-Six months, sir." Levi could hear the quiver of her voice and he locked onto that immediately. 

"Six months," Levi repeated. He glanced back at Eren who was giving him a pleading look but he simply ignored it. "You've worked in this department for six months, worked under my supervision for six whole months and yet I can't understand why you don't seem to know about my strict rules about cleanliness. Tell me, Miss-" Levi glanced back at Eren who immediately understood the signal. 

"Emily Finch." Eren informed him. 

"Miss Finch, of all the rules and regulations I enforce in this office, tell me what the number one rule to never break would be?" 

Levi could see the way the girls plump lips quivered as she looked down at her trembling hands in shame. He waited for any kind of response and when he got none right away, Levi sighed impatiently and glanced down at his watch. 

"I don't have time to deal with this shit. Miss Finch, I expect you to clear out your desk and be gone by the time I return to my office." 

As he started for the elevators once more, Levi heard the outraged squeak come from the red-head as she suddenly shot up from her desk. 

"You're firing me over a little dust!?" she practically screamed. 

Levi rolled his eyes but never once stopped to turn and look back at the girl who was surely fuming over being let go over such a thing. No, Levi only continued walking as he spoke over his shoulder. 

"One hour, Miss Finch." 

"You heartless bastard! After all the work I've done for you! Do you have any idea how this job ruined my social life just because you treat all of us like your own personal slaves!?"

At this, Levi did stop as he finally turned to look at the seething girl, tears of anger streaked her freckled cheeks and she was breathing harshly like an enraged bull seeing nothing but red as it got ready to charge at any minute. 

"If you're expecting an apology, you're shit out of luck. I suggest you start gathering your things, Miss Finch. I won't tell you again." 

Levi turned just as the elevator doors opened and he stepped in with a worried looking Eren stepping in right after him. As the doors to the elevator closed, a frustrated scream could be heard and Eren let out a low whistle under his breath. 

"That was... harsh." He commented. 

"Problem, Jaeger?" Levi didn't lift his eyes once to look at his assistant as he pulled out his phone and began tapping away at the screen. 

"Nope. No problems here. I just thought that maybe that could have been handled a little more... delicately." 

"If I wanted your thoughts, I would ask for them." came Levi's curt response and it had the brunet shutting up immediately. Well, almost immediately. 

"You're right, sorry Boss." 

They rode the elevator in a tense silence up to one of the top floors. As soon as the doors opened, Levi was the first to step out of the elevators with a winded Eren struggling to keep up with him. You'd think after working for him for so long, Eren would have developed the stamina to keep up to pace with him by now but apparently that wasn't the case at all. 

They entered the conference room that was nearly full by now and Levi said nothing as the room fell silent at his presence. From the front of the round conference table, Levi could see Hanji bouncing up and down in her seat while waving her hands wildly. There was an empty chair next to her and Levi cut across the room to claim the seat that he was more than sure Hanji had saved for him. Eren separated from him and walked over to a a long row of chairs near a far off wall where other assistants sat, a familiar freckled brunet boy with a warm smile being one of them. Marco Bott, also known as Erwin's Assistant or aka 'Freckled Jesus' as Levi had overheard someone from accounting call him once. 

Levi's attention was forced toward the front of the conference table when Erwin Smith and Nile Dok walked into the conference room last, looking as professional as ever. Erwin, the handsome blond bastard with his English cut suits, pinstripes and all with that mane of golden hair smoothed back so that not a single hair was out of place. The image of perfection. At least, that's what Hanji always said whenever she gushed about her husband which was always. It both annoyed and amused Levi that his two closest friends were so open about their affections for one another. 

And then there was Nile Dok. With his dark beady eyes, greasy black hair that was shaved into some sort of fohawk that Levi could never stomach and that disgusting excuse for facial hair he called a 'beard' and 'mustache'. Overall, Nile Dok reminded Levi of a wet sewer rat and his feelings about the man were not about to change, even with the nicely tailored Italian suits he wore. Erwin cleared his throat loudly and put on his best business smile, a smile Levi knew was a well-practice one and that could fool even the most cunning of business men. Erwin Smith was dangerous like that. 

"Good Afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to see you could all make it on such short notice." 

Levi snorted loudly at this and Erwin shot him a knowing glare. A glare that Levi promptly titled his 'Fatherly Glare' and it never failed to make him feel thoroughly reprimanded despite the fact that he was thirty-three fucking years old and not some ten year old child who needed reprimanding. 

"Let's get to the point for why you're all really here, shall we?" Nile spoke up next, everyone immediately perked up and sat a little straighter in their seats. Levi merely relaxed back into his chair, knowing that this promotion was as good as his and that he had nothing to worry about. "As you all know, we're servicing a multimillion-dollar account for our biggest client yet. We needed a team we could put our absolute trust in, and that's why we've appointed Miss Hanji Zoe Smith to head up our Creative team." 

There was applause all around for Hanji's obvious position as a team leader for this account. Levi giving his long time friend a small smile to which she responded to with a fierce hug and a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Levi scowled and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe at the wet spot left on his right cheek with disgust clearly evident on his face. Erwin was watching their exchange with a fond look in his pale blue eyes. 

"And as for our creative team in question," Nile paused with a sleazy smile that made Levi's skin crawl. That smile was completely unnecessary. "I have chosen Mike, Ian and... Rico to make up the team."

Levi's face immediately fell at Nile's reveal. He hadn't been chosen for a position on the creative team? After all his hard work in conceiving this entire campaign for the Reeves Company, Nile was actually going to deny him the position he'd earned? He felt a hand give him a reassuring squeeze on his arm and he didn't need to look to know that it was Hanji trying to calm him down. To no avail it seemed. The rest of the meeting, Levi only glared at Erwin and Nile, more so Nile since he knew Erwin probably had little to do with any of this. 

When the meeting was finally dismissed and everyone was clearing out of the room all at once, Levi was the only one who stayed glued to his seat, arms crossed over his chest and his expression darkening by the second. Even Eren didn't move from his spot in the back of the room, sensing Levi's foul mood due to him being passed over for his big promotion. Eren had learned very early on when he'd started this job that an angry Levi was not one to be trifled with at any time. When the conference room was nearly cleared out, Erwin was one of the last ones in the room to leave. 

"Levi, Nile and I would like to see you in my office in ten minutes." 

Levi knew that this was Erwin's subtle way of telling him to calm down before making his way up toward his office. Levi was beyond calming down at this point. He was furious. He had half a mind to tackle Nile upon seeing him next time and shaving off his shitty excuse of a beard and mustache along with his greasy hair. Still, the idea of a bald Nile was an appealing one and Levi would be a god damned liar if he said that that particular mental image didn't help calm him down even just the tiniest bit. 

"Eren, wait for me outside Erwin's office. This might take awhile." he instructed to his assistant who was very quiet the entire elevator ride up to the top floor. 

Once they were outside Erwin's office, he could already see through the glass doors that Hanji and Nile would be joining them for this meeting. A thought that in the end ruined Levi's mood completely. Marco was seated in the desk just outside of Erwin's office and he smiled warmly at Levi as the man approached the double glass doors. 

"Good Afternoon, Levi!" the freckled boy greeted cheerfully but he was met with icy silence as Levi didn't even so much as spare him a glance while striding into Erwin's office. completely disregarding Marco's friendly greeting. 

Entering the spacious office, Levi couldn't help but glare directly at Nile who stood up leaning against Erwin's desk with a nonchalant air about him. He had an almost smug look on his weasel-like face and it made Levi bristle. He tried to remind himself of the mental image he'd conjured up of a bald Nile to hopefully help improve his mood, even just the tiniest bit but found that it was no longer helping in this situation. 

Erwin motioned for Levi to sit down and Hanji flashed him an apologetic smile which was uncharacteristic even for her. There was a beat of tense silence that passed between the four of them, and Levi was about ready to blow a fuse when Erwin finally took the initiative and addressed the elephant in the room. 

"Now, I know what you must be thinking Levi. First of all, I just want to say that we all know that you earned that promotion and had it been left entirely up to me, I would have gladly given you the position as Director of Creative Affairs but Nile thought-"

"I thought that with your current Career path, that a position as important as this shouldn't be left with someone with your lifestyle." Nile suddenly interrupted Erwin.

"And what the fuck is _that_ supposed to mean?" Levi said through gritted teeth, just barely containing his anger. 

Erwin sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and continued to massage it while Nile flashed Levi a polite smile that made his insides churn uncomfortably. It took all of his willpower not to shoot up from his seat and punch Nile's teeth out but Levi only just barely refrained from doing so when he looked over and saw Hanji's slight head shake. Her subtle way of telling him that she could sense his motives without him even needing to voice them out loud. Damn her and her receptive nature. She always could read him like an open book. 

"Now, Levi. Don't take this negatively. I think you're doing one hell of a job for us, I mean nobody puts in as many hours at the office as you do and your pitch for the Reeves Campaign was flawless and I give you full credit for it." 

"Enough bullshitting, Dok," Levi exasperated. "Get to the point. Why was I passed up for the position?" 

Nile's polite smile dropped from his face and he sighed heavily, "Alright, we'll do it your way, Levi. You wanna know why I gave the position to Rico instead of you?" 

"Why else would I fucking be here? Obviously it's not because I wanna see your ugly mug." 

There was a pained looked on Nile's face, as if he were fighting to keep his expression blank but failing as Levi noticed the little twitch of his eyelid. Levi felt like he'd won a small victory in seeing that he was getting under Nile's skin and from the side he could hear Erwin's silent chuckling. 

"I passed you up for the position of Director of Creative Affairs because out of all of our veteran employees, you're the only person I know who's not tied down by anything." 

Levi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Nile, "What exactly are you trying to get at, Dok?" 

"Take Rico for example. You two are the same age, but Rico owns a home and she's married with children. She has a family she needs to support and that pleases me to no end because I know she's not going anywhere. I can expect her to show up for work tomorrow without any worries. Now that brings me to you. Unlike anyone else who works for us, you're the only person we know who has nothing tying them down to this job. You're not married, you don't own a home, you don't even own a car because you live only ten minutes away from the office." 

"So, let me get this straight," Levi interrupted. "You passed me up for this promotion because I'm the only fucker in this company who's still a single bachelor without a goddamn mortgage?" 

"Exactly!" Nile said with an all too satisfied grin on his face. "So, do we have an understanding as to why you didn't get the position?" 

Levi stared up at Nile incredulously, "No, we do not have a fucking understanding. I don't see what the problem is if I'm not married with a damn family of demon spawns and I don't drive a car manufactured by a fucking Nazi. How is that in any way at all effecting my job and my chance at this promotion?" 

The brunet man sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Levi was just about done with all this sighing and looks of disappointment. If anything, he should be the one sighing and looking disappointed because it sure as hell was how he felt right about now. Well, he also kind of wanted to bash someones fucking head in but that obviously wasn't about to happen. Not unless he wanted to go to prison for the rest of his life, of course. 

"Levi, among all the people who work for our company, you're the only person I know who's still free as a bird and that's good... for you. But what that means for me is that if I encourage you to develop a relationship with one of our biggest clients and you suddenly deciding one day that you don't want to work for us anymore, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from picking up and going to work for one of our competitors and possibly taking our big client with you." 

There was a tense moment of silence in the room, the atmosphere so thick with it, one could probably cut it with a knife. Levi held Nile's gaze for what seemed like an eternity, his sharp grey eyes pinning Nile in his spot. Finally, Levi broke the silence with a soft snort through his nose as a rare and unexpected smirk crept it's way slowly onto his face. 

"This is such bullshit," he finally said as he allowed his body to relax, slumping back in his seat with an air of nonchalance that Nile Dok had previously displayed upon Levi entering the room. "My private life is no one's fucking business and that's exactly how I like it." 

Suddenly, Hanji seemed to perk up at the mention of Levi's private life and the raven noticed the mischievous glint in her large brown eyes as she glanced out of the glass doors at Levi's assistant Eren who was leaning against Marco's desk, seemingly having a pleasant conversation with the freckled man. 

"Whoa, so hold on a minute," Hanji spoke up suddenly earning her the attention of all the eyes and ears in the room with her, which didn't exclude Levi. "You mean to tell me you and Eren aren't _engaged_ yet?" 

Levi scowled at the brunette woman as she beamed back at him, looking quite pleased with herself at the current moment in time. She was up to something but as to what? Levi wasn't entirely sure. 

"Hanji," He said as calmly as he possibly could under the current circumstances. "Did you slip on a patch of black ice on your way into the office and give yourself a fucking concussion?" 

Her smile only widened as she shot up from her seat and practically skipped toward the office door, "Oh, no need to be so shy about it, Levi! It wouldn't be the first time someone in this office got involved with their secretary. After all, I thought you and Eren were _house hunting_ together." 

Levi got a sickening feeling in his stomach as he watched Hanji yank the door open and prance her way over to a surprised looking Eren as the brunet was all but dragged into Erwin's office by a bouncing Hanji who just couldn't stop fucking smiling at Levi's expense. 

"Is this true?" Nile asked with narrowed eyes as he glanced back and forth between Levi and his very confused assistant. From the side of him, Levi could see Erwin fighting to hold in his laughter and hide his grin behind threaded hands. Levi could still see the obvious traces of amusement in his blue eyes, for it was no secret to Hanji and Erwin that Levi couldn't stand his clumsy assistant and to even make a sick joke such as this was going to far, even by Hanji's standards. 

But surprisingly, instead of being angry with his best friend about her horrible prank, Levi noticed the window of opportunity she'd just given him by fabricating this farce of a relationship. It was quite literally the perfect setup. In this case, the relationship would be fake but Levi's would only need to play along until he made it onto the creative team for this multimillion-dollar account with the Reeves Company. That was all the encouraging Levi needed in order to go along with this little act Hanji had set up. 

"Yes, it is true. Eren and I are engaged." 

From the other side of the room, Levi could see the look of horror on Eren's face as his bright teal eyes went comically wide and his mouth fell agape at this news of their fake relationship. Hanji once again seemed very pleased with herself. 

"W-Who's engaged?" Eren asked as he looked to Levi with questioning eyes. 

"Don't worry, Eren. Levi here was just telling us about how the two of you have been keeping the news of your engagement a secret from all of us but it's all out in the open now. No need to hide it anymore." Hanji cackled. 

This only furthered Eren's confusion and Levi could clearly see it on his features. He hastily stood up and strode toward Eren with purpose in each step. Upon closing the distance, Levi elbowed Hanji aside and grasped the younger man's hand in his own, giving it a firm squeeze to the point where it was almost painful and Eren winced slightly. 

"Exactly. Why not tell them the truth, _Eren_." Levi put extra emphasis on his assistants name while giving him a pointed look that told the brunet to simply play along. 

"Um, y-yes." Eren stuttered as he tried to straighten his posture and put some confidence into what he was saying. "We are... engaged?" 

Levi internally sighed as his statement came out more as a question but it would have to do for now. He could tell that Nile wasn't entirely buying their whole facade and he quickly tried to make up for Eren's lack of ability to lie. 

"We didn't want to let anyone know since we thought it would be highly inappropriate considering my promotion to Director of Creative Affairs and Eren's raise." 

He felt his assistant stiffen up next to him and Levi gave his hand another harsh squeeze. He could tell that he was probably hurting Eren by now but he needed to make sure he went along with his plan, lest they both be caught in their lie. 

"Oh, um, yes! Right, of course. Totally inappropriate. We were just two people who... weren't... supposed to fall in love." He chuckled nervously and at this point Levi decided to take over the conversation to save them both from having to endure anymore of Eren's horrendous lying skills. 

"Interesting," Nile hummed with a smirk. "And, uh, exactly how long have you two been dating?" 

"Six months." came Levi's quick response. 

"Six months." Eren parroted monotonously. 

"Uh-huh." Was the only response Nile had for them at this point and Levi could tell he would have to come up with something quick in order to seal this deal. 

It was at this precise moment that Levi recalled something that Eren had mentioned to him in passing this morning while he was busy relaying Levi's messages to him. It was the perfect thing to ensure Levi's position on the creative team for the Reeve's account. 

"Actually, I was going to request some time off this coming weekend, Erwin." Levi eyed his close friend who was smiling from ear to ear by now but apparently was willing to play along with their little game. 

"Of course, but I hope you don't mind my asking for what?" Erwin lifted one of his thick eyebrows and Levi reminded himself to insult him about them later. 

"Eren and I were planning on going to visit his parents this weekend, you see, it's their Anniversary and we were going to announce our engagement then." Levi could feel Eren's gaze boring into him from his peripheral view but he simply kept his gaze directed forward. 

"Well, that's certainly very unlike you, Levi. Taking time off for personal matters, I mean." Nile said a little skeptically. 

Levi tried not to roll his eyes, "Yeah, well, that's just how... important this weekend is for us." 

"Uh-huh... and uh, just where exactly _does_ Eren's family live?"

Levi noticed the smug little grin growing on Eren's face as he gave Levi's hand a little squeeze of his own, "Shiganshina."Levi had never been more grateful for remembering at least that little tidbit of information about his assistant. 

Nile's brows furrowed at the mention of Eren's hometown, "I don't think I'm familiar with it. Is it in the states?" 

"No, sir." Eren almost sang. Levi was a little confused by the sudden change in Eren's behavior but wasn't about to question where the sudden burst of smug confidence came from. Not when things were finally going so smoothly. "Shiganshina is in Germany."

And that was the moment Levi decided that he should have just stayed in bed that morning and called in sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to me!! _~~and Connie!~~_  
>  This fic is my gift to both myself and the SnK fandom because there's never enough domestic fluff Ereri!


	2. A Thousand Miles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, this happened.  
> I blame my waifu Paula for everything that happens in this chapter because she encouraged it all and didn't once try to stop me and I love her for it because this chapter was wayyy too much fun.  
> Don't deny that you had a hand in this, Paula. YOUR HANDS ARE DIRTY NOW!

"I can't believe I'm flying all the way to fucking Germany."

Eren let out a small exasperated sigh as he did his best to ignore Levi's endless complaining. They were boarding a 9pm flight to Germany that evening from JFK Airport and Levi did not fail to let Eren know how much he truly hated having to fly anywhere. Eren forced himself to take a deep breath and calm himself before he tried to ignore Levi's annoyed grumbling. 

"You know, you have no one to blame for this but yourself." Eren mumbled as they boarded their plane and tried to find their seats. 

"No, I have Hanji to blame this on. Now, can you tell me again why the fuck it is we're going to visit your parents all the way in Germany?" 

Eren sighed, "Because, Thanks to both you and Hanji coming up with that ridiculous lie about us being engaged to be married, Nile Dok is expecting us to _actually_ go to Germany and spend time with my parents this weekend." 

"That still doesn't answer the question as to why we're _actually_ going to Germany. We could have just lied and said we went, had a lovely god damn time drowning ourselves in beer, eating Schnitzel and Sausages and been done with it."

"Oh, ha ha ha. You're so hilarious. Is that what you think all German people do in their spare time? Get drunk and eat Wiener Schnitzel and Sausages?" 

"Well, am I wrong?" 

The brunet fixed him with a humorless look, "Well, since you're French does that mean that you have Baguettes and Beret's all over your apartment and walk around saying 'hon hon hon' and 'oh-la-la' all day long?" 

Eren couldn't help but smirk as Levi gave him a sharp glare while sucking his teeth in annoyance. 

"Don't be fucking ridiculous, Eren. I'm French-Canadian." 

"Does that mean you're also fluent in Moose, _ey_?" 

Levi punched Eren in the arm hard enough for the younger man to gasp loudly in pain as he gripped his arm and looked at Levi in shocked offense. 

" _OW._ " 

"That's for saying 'ey' in my presence. Say it again and I will end you." 

Eren decided it was probably better if he didn't say anything else, holding up his hands in a defensive manner to sooth Levi's anger. They finally found their seats and much to Levi's displeasure they were flying Coach. When Eren had told him there were no more first class seats available for their flight, he wasn't shy about letting his annoyance about it be known. Hence, why Eren was currently suffering as Levi quite literally argued with him in the middle of the aisle over what seat he was going to take. 

"Why can't you just take the window seat? You're smaller than I am." Eren pointed out. 

"Fuck off, Jaeger. I said I'm not sitting anywhere near a window during this flight, now hurry the fuck up and sit down before I shove my foot up your ass." 

Eren sighed but figured there was no point in arguing with Levi on this when he was clearly set on sitting near the aisle. Levi's phobia of flying was beginning to grate on Eren's nerves and he wasn't quite sure how he was going to make it through an almost eight hour flight with his boss without strangling someone. Preferably, Levi. 

After putting away their carry-on luggage, Eren finally took his seat near the window and Levi settled into his own seat near the aisle. The older man seemed tense as he fussed with the collar of his [white turtle neck](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9c/3d/83/9c3d83c0178a6622aedffd8d33f02370.jpg) and then began rummaging through the pockets of his dark blazer. The brunet couldn't help but arch a curious brow at Levi's attire now that he looked at his boss properly.

"You do realize that this is an eight hour flight, right? Are you sure you're going to be comfortable while wearing... that?"

Levi's thin brows furrowed slightly as he looked down at his own outfit and frowned, "Eren," he said calmly as he looked up at the brunet with jaded eyes. "If I want your fashion advice, I'll ask you for it. I mean, have you _seen_ what you're wearing?" 

Eren glanced down at his own [clothes](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/25/6e/de/256edea3decf392add6c8ebacc22d07d.jpg) and this time it was his turn to frown at his boss, "You know, considering the fact that I _am_ basically doing you a huge favor by playing along with your little lie, you could at least try and act like an actual decent human being and stop treating me like your personal slave when we're outside of the office." 

"And how long have you been working for me again? It's like you don't even know me, Jaeger. 

"You're right," Eren huffed. "We all know that it's impossible for you to be nice to anyone." 

"Exactly." 

A soft, feminine voice came over the plane's intercom system announcing their flight was about to depart from the runway soon. Next to him, Eren could feel Levi begin to rummage around through his blazer pockets again until the man pulled out a small unmarked bottle of what looked like pills. He narrowed his teal eyes at his boss suspiciously as Levi shook out two tiny round white pills and popped them into his mouth with ease. A flight attendant was just passing by with the drink cart when Levi stopped her and asked for alcohol. Lots of alcohol. 

"Um," Eren said uncertainly as he watched Levi throw back an entire pocket sized bottle of Jack Daniels in one go. "Just out of curiosity, are you by any chance suicidal?" 

"Tch, mind your own business, Jaeger." 

 

"Unfortunately, you are my business now and I just need to know if those pills you just took will somehow cause you to, oh, I don't know... fucking overdose and die while we're on this plane?" Eren flashed Levi a sardonic grin and the raven-haired man snorted. 

"Fuck if I know. Hanji told me to take these as soon as I got on the plane because it would help with my 'problem'." "You don't even know what you're taking, do you?" "Not a damn clue but if it's going to help me get through this flight to Germany, I'll gladly become a drug addict." "Why do I have a feeling this isn't your first time taking random pills Hanji gives you?" Levi simply rolled his eyes but made no other effort to answer Eren's question. This only confirmed his suspicions. Shaking his head, Eren decided it was best if he tried to interact with Levi as little as possible through the rest of this flight. After all, he was used to being ignored by Levi anyway so there would really be no difference. At least, that's what he thought. 

\- ▼ -

Four hours later and Eren was currently wishing that the floor would swallow him up. Levi was acting like an absolute basket-case. Not only had he drank enough booze to last him the rest of his life, he had also popped two more of the mysterious little pills Hanji had given him claiming that they weren't helping him enough so he needed more. Now, Eren wished he had stopped him because he was now currently sitting next to a drunk and high Levi who would not stop asking him stupid questions.

"Eren," Levi whisper-shouted. Eren tried to ignore Levi's calls but he should have known the man was very persistent. "Eren... EEEEEEEren." 

The brunet simply kept his eyes shut and tried to force himself to ignore the way Levi started poking him in the ribs whenever he wouldn't answer him. He silently prayed that the man would eventually give up and drift off to sleep himself, how he hadn't yet was a mystery to him. Whatever those pills were that Hanji gave him, they must have been giving Levi all this extra energy because the man was next to obnoxious at this point and Eren wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Still, Eren couldn't deny that it was very funny to see his no-nonsense boss acting so out of character. 

"Hey, I know you can hear me, dip-shit. AIR-IN." 

Eventually, whatever small amount of patience Eren had wore out and he cracked an eye open to see his boss glaring at him and pouting like a petulant child. 

"What?" he hissed back in reply to Levi's relentless poking and prodding. 

"Is it- Is it just me or does it feel like we're floating right now? S' fuckin weird." 

Eren let out a long suffering sigh and tried to stop himself from literally face-palming himself. Of course Levi was bothering him to ask him another stupid question. Why he thought Levi in his current state would actually be bothering him for a perfectly good reason, he didn't know. 

"Levi, go to sleep. You're obviously too drunk to function right now." 

When Eren got no verbal response from Levi, he closed his eye again and tried to will himself to get even just the tiniest bit of sleep on this flight if it killed him. He didn't even want to think about how jet-lagged he was going to feel after this flight. Although, he got a little satisfaction in knowing the fact that he'll probably not feel it as badly as Levi once they land. It was probably a shitty thing for him to get joy out of, having to see his boss suffer with a hangover once they land and probably gloating about it at the same time but Eren quickly got over the little pang of guilt when he recalled all the shit Levi had put him through since he started working for him. 

It was quiet for several minutes and for awhile, Eren thought that maybe Levi finally fell asleep. He let out a small sigh of relief at the idea of finally getting some peace and quiet. At least, until he heard Levi start humming a fucking song. It started out very quietly, almost unnoticeable if one weren't really paying attention but then it eventually grew slowly in volume. Eren groaned when he recognized the tune Levi was humming but it took every fiber of his being not to break out in a wide smile and start laughing hysterically when Levi actually started singing the lyrics to this god-awful song that was so painfully familiar.

"Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm home bound."

Eren wasn't sure if he was more disturbed by the fact that Levi actually knew the lyrics to that song or that Levi actually had a decent signing voice despite his intoxicated state. His voice was low and smooth but not overly deep. It was surprisingly pleasant and albeit just a tad pitchy at times but overall, Eren couldn't help but stare at his boss wide-eyed as the raven had his eyes closed while singing the rest of the song.

"Staring blankly ahead, just making my way, making my way through the crooowd."

He could already see some of the other people that were sitting close to them turning and giving Levi strange looks and stares. Some were good sports about it and simply smiled or snickers before minding their own business. Eren was at least grateful for that.

"Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh! I need you, I miss you and now I wonder... If I could fall into the sky do you think time would pass me by?"

Eren actually had to suppress a snort as he continued to watch his boss make a complete ass of himself on a plane. He couldn't possibly have ever imagine Levi doing something like this, even while he was drunk off his ass. Then again, he was also doped up on whatever the hell Hanji gave him in the form of those pills and Eren secretly reminded himself to thank Hanji once they got back to New York. In the meantime, Eren couldn't possibly pass up this opportunity to record a video on his phone and use it as blackmail later on down the road.

"Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see youuuuu toniiight!"

Suddenly, a grumpy passenger had had just about enough of Levi's unexpected karaoke session as he yelled his displeasure across the aisle.

"Hey, can somebody shut this guy up? Some of us are trying to sleep!" 

Levi was in the middle of starting the second verse when he abruptly stopped and turned in his seat to look over the top of his seat. It was a rather comical sight considering Levi was kneeling on his seat while peeking over the back of his headrest to search out the guy who rudely interrupted his moment in the spotlight. Levi had his eyes narrowed, squinting to focus his vision no doubt before he eventually gave up and just pointed in a random direction. 

"Hey, fuck you buddy. M' singin over here!" his words were a slurred mess but he at least got his point across and Eren knew this is probably where he should step in and stop his boss from getting them both kicked off the plane, so with great reluctance Eren tried to calm Levi down. 

"Alright, that's enough of that." the brunet wrapped an arm around Levi's lower waist and gently tugged him down until the man was slumping back down into his seat with a deep scowl on his face. 

"Some people are just so fuckin' rude." Levi pouted and Eren couldn't help but smirk. 

"Aw, is someone upset that their audition for American Idol on a plane was interrupted?" the brunet cooed, earning him a dark glare from the shorter man in question. 

"Fuck off." was all Levi could muster before he was yawning widely. Eren was once again relieved to see that Levi was finally crashing from his high and with any luck, Levi would pass out for the rest of the flight and not wake up until they landed in Germany. 

He got his wish when in the next ten minutes, Levi was snoring softly next to him. Eren finally got the peace and quiet he desired and he took the time to try and catch a few winks of sleep himself. He wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but sometime during the time he dozed off, Levi's head somehow ended up on Eren's shoulder with the man's face nearly snuggled away comfortably in the crook of his neck. 

Eren could feel Levi's soft feather-light breath ticking his skin and a small shiver racked through his body before he was awkwardly trying to push Levi's head off his shoulder. It took some work and some more awkward maneuvering but eventually Eren was able to get Levi's head off his shoulder and resting against the back of his own headrest. Well, the part that Levi's head could reach. 

With a sigh of relief, Eren rolled his stiff shoulders and then belatedly realized that he needed to take a leak. He grumbled because he hardly had anything to drink this entire flight while Levi practically drank his own weight in alcohol and yet he was the one having to piss instead of his shit-faced boss. Fantastic. 

So, with even _more_ awkward maneuvering Eren somehow managed to cross over Levi's limp body to make it to the bathroom and relieve himself. Luckily, that was the one and only time Eren had to go to the bathroom while still on the plane and he spent the last hour of the flight productively finishing some things up for work. It was a little unfair that even though this was supposed to be his weekend off, he was still doing work. 

But he couldn't deny that he actually loved what he did. Even if being Levi's executive assistant meant having to deal with his tyrannical ways. When they finally landed in Germany, Eren felt like he'd just stepped off a twenty hour flight instead of an eight hour flight. As for Levi, Eren wasn't sure if he should have been grateful or spiteful for the fact that his boss was still passed out even after they landed. No matter how hard Eren tried to wake him up, Levi simply wouldn't budge. It took five slaps to Levi's face until Eren finally realized the older man was _not_ going to be waking up anytime soon and therefore Eren was forced to carry his boss off the plane which in hindsight was absolutely torture. Levi was _a lot_ heavier than he looked. 

"How can somebody so tiny weigh a god damn ton?" Eren grumbled to himself as he deposited Levi's unconscious body onto a luggage cart. The man was complete dead weight. "Should have left your ass on the plane." 

Still, despite all his grumblings Eren continued to tote his unconscious boss along toward the airport terminal while receiving strange looks in the meantime. He was sure he probably looked like some kind of human smuggler or something with the way he just dumped Levi unceremoniously onto the luggage cart with his arms and legs practically hanging off the sides.

Much to Eren's chagrin, when he exited the terminal he saw two painfully familiar faces greeting him. He recognized his mother's sweet, warm eyes and even warmer smile as she excitedly waved her son down. Eren also noticed his adopted sister Mikasa standing next to his mother with a small smile on her pale face. The brunet couldn't help but break out into a wide grin himself as he walked a little more quickly to meet his mother and sister. 

"Mein Sonnenschein!" his mother shouted excitedly.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" he asked, scooping his mother up into his arms and hugging her tightly. 

Carla playfully slapped him on his shoulder once Eren had released her from his tight embrace. She reached up and pinched his cheek with a fond look in her eyes and Eren tried to bat her hand away. 

"Is a mother not allowed to pick up her only son from the airport after he's coming home for the first time in almost three years?" 

Eren gave her a little sheepish smile when he noticed the chiding look in her warm honey gold eyes. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned to see his sister Mikasa staring up at him expectantly. She wasn't that much shorter than him, in fact when they were teenagers they were the exact same height. Fortunately for Eren, once he hit sixteen he went through a growth spurt and was a solid six foot now at the age of twenty-six. 

After receiving another warm but tight hug from his sister, Eren couldn't help but snort as he noticed it was only his mom and Mikasa there to pick him up. 

"Where's Shadowfax?" ***[1]**

Mikasa punched him softly on the same arm Levi had punched him on several hours earlier and he tried -he really did- not to wince too much but he'd be a damn liar if he said his arm wasn't still a little sore from Levi's punch. 

"Gross, Eren. Don't call Jean that." 

"But you gotta admit, it was good." 

Mikasa snorted softly but quickly caught herself and tried to cover up the beginnings of a laughing fit coming on with an awkward clearing of her throat. 

"Shut up. He's still my husband, you know." 

"And I still can't believe that you married that horse-face after all the times you rejected him in high school." 

Mikasa only shrugged, "People change." 

"Uh-huh. Well, I'll believe that when I see it." 

"Okay, well if you're both quite done, let's get Eren's bags in the car. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get to the house." Carla interrupted the siblings before they could start squabbling. "Sweetheart, you said you were bringing a friend with you. Where are they?" 

Eren hesitated to tell his mother that technically he hadn't brought a friend but his boss who was Satan incarnate. How does one explain that to their mother or anyone for that matter? The simple answer would be, you don't. 

"Uh, yeah about that, Mom." 

"Eren, why is there an unconscious... _man_ hanging off your luggage cart?" Mikasa asked with a raised brow. 

"Yeah, you see, the thing is my _'friend'_ -" Eren almost shuddered at using that word to describe his boss to his family but luckily he refrained. "-has a severe fear of flying so he took something to help with his nerves during the flight. I don't think he's going to be waking up anytime soon though." he sighed tiredly. 

Carla and Mikasa exchanged looks with one another but thankfully neither of them prodded Eren for anymore information. At least for the meantime, anyway. Eren was more than sure that his mother and sister would be bugging the hell out of him once they had him cornered in the car when they both knew he didn't have anywhere to escape from their endless questioning. 

Eren was just about fed up with Levi's shit when he had to carry his limp body into the car. Well, if he were being honest, he was fed up with Levi's shit about two and a half years ago when he first started working for the man. This, this was just ridiculous though. 

"Oh, be careful, meine Kleine. You might hit his head." Eren's mother said with a worried expression as the brunet all but dumped Levi in the backseat of his mother's old beat up truck. 

"Nah, he'll be fine." Eren dismissed with a halfhearted shrug. 

They all piled into the truck and soon they were on their way to the little village of Shiganshina. It was at least a two hour drive from the airport so Eren got as comfortable as he could in the backseat while Mikasa had called shotgun and beat him to the passenger's seat. Naturally, his mother was driving. He supposed he should be grateful that the rules of the road varied greatly from the rules of the road in America. His mother could be a little bit of a reckless driver. 

"So, why didn't dad come too?" Eren finally asked the question that he knew his mother was hoping he'd avoid. 

"Well... you know how your Father can be, sweetheart. Stubborn as a bull when he wants to be." 

His mother exchanged a look with him through the rear-view mirror and Eren could see the apologetic look in her large amber colored eyes. Eren couldn't help but snort with a roll of his eyes as he sunk a little lower in his seat, 

"Yeah, that figures." 

"What do you expect, Eren? He's still wants you to finish medical school and marry Annie of all people." Mikasa seemed to share his sentiment which comforted him a little. Despite how Eren liked to annoy her at times, he could always count on his sister to take his side. Well, almost always. 

"Well, that's obviously not happening. I'm perfectly happy with my life in New York. Besides, he can always give the practice over to Armin whenever the old man decides to retire."

"You mean _if_ he ever plans to retire." His mother added in with a giggle.

"Speaking of your life in New York. What's the story with the midget?" Mikasa jerked her thumb in Levi's general direction and Eren smirked. 

"Believe it or not, short stuff over here is actually my boss." 

Mikasa's eyes grew comically wide, "You mean Pocket-sized Satan?" 

"Yep. That one." 

"Sweetheart," Carla said with a nervous grin. "Forgive me for saying this but I thought that man made your life miserable?"

"Oh, yeah. Everyday." 

"So, why?" 

"Why what?" 

"Why did you bring him back home with you?" Mikasa finally asked the question that Eren's mother seemed to have trouble asking. Leave it to Mikasa. 

"Look, I know it's weird. It's _really_ weird but I have a good reason for bringing him. And I know that I've complained about him a lot but he's really not... all that bad." 

Even as the words came out of his mouth, Eren had a hard time believing them. It must have shown in his expression since Mikasa seemed skeptical and his mother still looked unsure. Eren swallowed nervously. He couldn't possibly tell his family that he brought his boss back home with him because his job was basically being threatened by said man. Eren didn't exactly want to go along with Levi's lie about them being engaged either. Not only would it be hard to believe considering his mother and sister knew how much he loathed his boss, but his father would probably disown him for being 'engaged' to another man. 

Well, now that Eren thought about in that perspective, maybe telling his dad that he was dating his boss would be worth it. In case it wasn't obvious by now, Eren didn't exactly have the best relationship with his father. This would be the perfect way to get back at his dad for all the years of pressuring Eren into living his life the way he wanted him to. Basically grooming him from birth to be a great Doctor and take over the family practice. 

"Eren," his mother called sternly, successfully snapping him out of his thoughts. "Your ears are turning red. There's something you're not telling me, ja?" 

The brunet hesitated as he met his mother's chiding gaze in the mirror once more. Was he really going to go through with this lie? Well, technically it wouldn't completely be a lie. He was in truth very attracted to men and women, he just hadn't told his parents that yet. Mikasa had a vague idea but he was more than sure his sister would probably be indifferent to his coming out. His mother? He wasn't so sure. 

"You see, the thing is, Mutti..." This was it, Eren was finally going to say it out loud. "Levi and I are kind of dating." 

There was a pregnant pause between the three of them, with only the sound of the engine running and Levi's light snoring to fill the air. Eren felt his body begin to stiffen and his face growing hot. He wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to take the silence he was receiving. From the backseat, he could see a mix of relief and confusion on Mikasa's face. The confusion was no doubt due to the fact that Eren said he was dating his boss of all people. A man he never failed to tell his sister he absolutely could not stand which was probably going to be a problem for them through out this weekend now that Eren thought about it but he'd worry about repercussions of that later.

"Oh, mein Sonnenschein!" Carla finally choked out in a sob, though whether it was a sob of grief or of joy, Eren couldn't entirely be sure. 

"Mutti, before you say anything-" Eren tried to begin trying to explain to his mother but he was surprised when he looked up into the mirror once more and saw his mother smiling warmly at him through glassy eyes. "Mutti?"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Were you afraid of what I would think?" 

Eren released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding with a shaky laugh as his body immediately began relaxing, his tense shoulders slumping back down. Mikasa was trying to fight back a fond smile but was failing to do so as she looked back at her brother with warmth and acceptance in her dark eyes. It felt like she was silently telling Eren 'Finally!' with just a simple look. If he was being honest, Eren felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt a little lighter in his seat. 

"I-I guess I was a little scared of how you would react if I told you I didn't only like women." 

"Oh, my precious boy." Carla sighed, her smile melting into something small but still holding all the warmth and love she had for her son. "Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy."

Suddenly, Eren felt so silly for spending the last two and half years avoiding his parents for fear of their rejection of him because of his sexuality. He should have known that his mother would have accepted him no matter if he were gay, straight, or hell, even if he were a fifteen meter tall man eating giant. All this time he could have been spending confiding in someone other than just his best friend Armin and his friends at Smith & Dok Advertising back in New York, wasted because of his anxiety. Of course, he still had his father to deal with but for now he was just beyond elated. 

"And don't you worry about your Father, sweetie. I'll handle him. You just make sure you show Levi a nice time here, alright?" 

"Oh boy, can't wait." Eren mumbled to himself quietly.

Eren continued partaking in conversation with his mother and sister through out most of the ride toward his home town. Being back to Shiganshina for the first time in awhile had Eren a little baffled as he took in the new stores and shops that hadn't been there the years previous. Despite being born in America and going to school there, Eren still remembered spending most of his childhood summers here in Germany in the small village of Shiganshina. He missed the green pastures and rolling hills, the colorful wildflowers growing on the sides of dirt roads, the smell of fresh baked bread rising from old stone chimneys in the lower town. It was more home to him then his home in the states and he was silently pleased to be back. 

Fortunately, when they finally reached the small village of Shiganshina, Levi began to stir from his sleep as if summoned by a cult. In short, he looked like a vampire rising from a thousand year sleep. All he needed was the dramatic special effects and a fog machine and he'd be a shoe-in for Dracula. Okay, so maybe Eren was exaggerating a bit. Point is, Levi looked a bit of a mess. 

"Holy fuck," were the first guttural words out of Levi's mouth. "I feel like I got hit by a semi-truck." 

"Look who finally decided to join the living again." Eren said in a sing-song tone of voice before he snorted loudly. "Nice cowlick, Boss."

Levi immediately stiffened as he took in his surroundings. Silvery eyes darted from face to face and then eventually out the car window. Slowly, Eren could see the realization light up in Levi's features. He held back a snicker when Levi awkwardly started trying to smooth out his slightly mussed hair and his clothes. 

"Eren," Levi called quietly. "Why didn't you wake me up to tell me we were already in Germany?" 

"Tried that. You were so high off of whatever pills Hanji gave you, not to mention drunk off your ass after drinking yourself stupid on the place that I tried to wake you up five times and nothing worked. True story." 

" _Eren_ -" Levi called again. This time his voice was hard and low enough for just to two of them to hear. 

"Relax, boss." Eren tried to reassure him. "I took care of everything while you were sleeping. Have a little more faith in me, will you?" 

"So, we're on our way to our hotel right now, right?" 

"Uh, yeah. About that-" 

"Oh!" Carla suddenly squeaked when she realized Levi was awake and alert. "Oh, hello there. I see you're finally awake." 

"Oh, um," Levi cleared his throat and tried to sit a little straighter in his seat. Eren couldn't help but arch a curious brow as he internally wondered how his boss would make his first impression to his mother of all people. "Yes, ma'am." _'Ah, so he's going with the distant but polite act'_ Eren thought to himself with a smirk. He knew that act wouldn't last very long. 

"I'm so glad you could come visit us. I'm Eren's mother, you can just call me Carla. None of that Mrs. Jaeger nonsense. Sounds so stiff and boring." 

Levi responded with a curt nod of his head, "It's nice to meet you, Carla." 

His boss was so painfully awkward and stiff that Eren almost couldn't stand to bear it. In all the time he's worked for Levi as his Assistant he can't remember a time when Levi _wasn't_ stiff and standoffish. The man was constantly in business mode and 'casual' and 'relaxed' didn't seem to exist in Levi's vocabulary. Which was why the entire ordeal on the plane was such a rare sight and Eren was even more pleased to know that he'd gotten the entire scene on video. He would definitely be using it against Levi very soon. 

"Eren, did you tell Levi we cancelled your hotel reservations?" 

From his peripheral vision, Eren could see the way Levi went rigid and within seconds he could feel Levi's sharp glare cutting into him like knives. It made him mildly uncomfortable but he wasn't about to shrink under Levi's intimidating stare. He was stronger than this and besides, after working for the man for so long he felt practically immune. Well... almost immune. 

"No, Eren. I don't believe you did tell me about that." Levi said through clenched teeth. 

"I was getting to that part, Mom." Eren said with little sheepish chuckle. 

"To clarify," Mikasa cut in. "My parents cancelled your reservations because you'll be staying with them at their home. That won't be a problem, will it?" she turned in her seat to glare back at Levi who glared right back at her. 

"Not at all." Levi muttered bitterly. 

"Good! Then it's all settled! We're almost there." Carla announced cheerfully.

"Fantastic." Eren mumbled sarcastically to himself. This was going to be a very long weekend in Germany. He only hoped he'd be able to survive it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***1** Shadowfax is the name of Gandalf the White's horse in Lord of the Rings. He is the Lord of all Horses.
> 
> Had way too much fun writing this chapter, hahaha.  
> There will probably be a lot of songs linked/sung in this fic because reasons.  
> Just a heads up.


	3. Meet the Jäger Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back to Levi's POV in this chapter.  
> Just a heads up that their trip to Germany will probably be mostly told from Levi's POV.

As they drove through the quaint little sleepy village of Shiganshina, Levi couldn't help but notice one particularly strange thing. Every store, shop and bakery seemed to be named after Eren's family. With the surname 'Jäger' plastered on nearly every building in the small but cozy village, Levi curiously eyed his assistant from the corners of his steel grey eyes. Just how prominent was Eren's family in this part of the German countryside that every building bore their namesake?

"You didn't tell me your family owned so many... _small businesses_ " Levi commented quietly. 

"He was probably just being modest," Eren's mother- Carla the sweet woman's name was - said with a cheerful smile. "My husband's great-great grandfather saved this Town from an epidemic many years ago and they were so grateful to him that they almost renamed the entire village after him. Luckily, they didn't and Grisha's great-great grandfather settled for simply staying here and becoming this village' physician since it was so small."

Levi found it rather eerie how similar Eren and his mother looked. He could see where Eren got his good genes from, Carla was a very beautiful woman who seemed to be aging gracefully but her bright eyes and smile only enhanced her beauty. Her eyes, Levi noted, were not the same vibrant teal as Eren's and her hair was about a shade darker than Eren's to the point where it was almost black but not quite so. Other than the difference in eye color and hair color, Eren was the exact spitting image of his mother. Levi also noticed the slightly thick German accent Carla carried with her whenever she spoke. It wasn't terribly heavy to the point where Levi couldn't understand a thing she said, just thick enough for him to know that English obviously wasn't her mother tongue. 

"Well, that's certainly... interesting." Levi said, for lack of anything better to reply with. He wasn't exactly used to having to converse so much with anyone. He was used to keeping most of his interactions with other humans curt and brief, just to get his point across and then he was done. It wasn't that easy with Eren's mother. She was just so... friendly. 

"Oh, yes. Our family comes from a very long line of physicians. Grisha's father was this town's Physician and naturally my husband took over the practice next." Carla seemed proud to speak about her Husband's family roots, which was quite endearing but Levi couldn't ignore the little annoyed eye roll Eren gave as his mother went on and on about their family tree. "What about you, Levi? Is it alright if I call you Levi?" 

The raven's attention was brought back to Carla as she asked him a rather strange question, "Levi is fine. What about me?" 

"Does your family live in New York as well?" 

Levi stiffened slightly at Carla's question about his family. It was a bit of a tender subject for him. One he never particularly liked to talk about. Ever. Eren arched an eyebrow at the sour look no doubt on Levi's face but the older man quickly smoothed out his expression, schooling back into his usual mask of cool indifference. 

"No, I don't have any family in New York."

"Oh! Then where do they live?" 

It took all of Levi's patience and willpower not to sigh or suck his teeth as Carla's curiosity about his familial roots was starting to irritate him just the tiniest bit. He understood she was only asking out of innocent curiosity but curiosity nonetheless. Family was not something Levi liked to discuss. Especially not with these strangers, as sweet and welcoming as Carla Jaeger was. Levi was a very private man and he wanted to keep it that way. 

"I'm afraid I don't have much of a family. I'm originally from Quebec." he answered vaguely. 

There was a heavy silence that followed Levi's answer, one that he did not feel obligated in the least to break. He was honest, at least. But the topic of family was one most people knew never to bring up with him. He really couldn't blame Eren's mother for being so curious but he was never one to care about the lives of strangers and he wasn't about to start now. No matter how kind Carla Jaeger was. 

"Oh, well, that's alright. At least for this weekend, you can be apart of _our_ family. After all, Eren told us about how the two of your are dating so I hope to see you a little more often from now on." Carla's smile widened as she glanced back at Levi through the rear-view mirror and he immediately tensed. 

He whipped a sharp glare toward Eren who was playing innocent and pretended to look at the buildings out of the car window. He wasn't fooling Levi. He'd worked with the brunet man long enough to know some of Eren's nervous ticks. The way his bright eyes always shifted around when he knew Levi knew he was lying to him about something, or the way his fingers twitched and fidgeted at his sides. In this case, Eren's nervous tick of choice was his fingers as they drummed against his thigh anxiously. 

"Likewise." Levi said, his sharp eyes still glued to Eren's form. 

The rest of the car ride was spent in mostly silence. Well, silence on Levi's part anyway. He quickly learned that Carla was a bit of a rambler but he found himself not all that bothered by her pointless blabbering. It was much more pleasant than that of Hanji's obnoxious ramblings, Levi was at least grateful for that. Mikasa, Eren's sister from what Levi had also learned, mostly ignored Levi. With the exception of the occasional stare off the two of them would have whenever she happened to glance back in his direction, but that was a rare occurrence, thankfully. He found that he spoke too soon, however, when Mikasa finally did address him.

"So, should we just call you Levi or do you prefer pocket-sized Satan? Because we've heard it both ways." 

"Mikasa!" Carla chided. 

From beside him, Levi heard Eren snort a laugh but he poorly tried to cover it up as nothing more than a cough. Levi gritted his teeth as his expression darkened and he saw the way Eren avoided his gaze completely as he awkwardly cleared his throat. 

"Well, which is it?" Mikasa piped up once more, turning as best she could in her seat to stare at Levi with large dark eyes. 

Levi only fixed her with a cool stare of his own as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Levi. I only prefer being called Pocket-sized Satan in the office." came his smooth reply.

For a second or two, there was stunned silence as Eren all but gaped at him and Mikasa blinked in slight surprise. Then his sister was breaking out in a small smirk as she seemed rather impressed with Levi's answer. 

"Hm. At least your sense of humor is good." she commented, seemingly pleased before she turned in her seat to face frontward once more. 

It was an odd sensation that Levi felt blossom in his chest when he noticed the approving look Carla shot him in the rear-view mirror once more. Something akin to pride, perhaps. He figured Mikasa probably wasn't a very easy person to impress and he had done just that. He found himself not entirely hating this trip anymore. Yes, it was still one hell of a bother but at least Eren's mother and sister weren't terrible. 

"We're almost there." Carla announced once more, as she pulled into a long dirt road that was surrounded by a thick, dense ocean of tall green trees.

"Look at all these big-ass trees." Levi mumbled more to himself than anyone but Eren heard him and he chuckled softly. 

"At least you can be reassured that there's plenty of privacy." 

Levi said nothing to that, choosing instead to ignore Eren in favor of scrutinizing the small house he saw in the distance. _'Oh fantastic. I'm going to be stuck in a tiny, cramped house in the German countryside with my idiot of an assistant and his family.'_ he thought bitterly. But his thoughts quickly began to change as they drew closer to the house and Levi realized he'd been wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. What looked like a small house hidden behind dense foliage in the distance was actually more of a private estate with a grand old [German-style house](http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/c6/fc68d006-59c6-55da-bd8d-19eeb7d1f0c4/53c03c21477c3.preview-620.jpg) that had mostly been obscured by the thick forest. Upon actually arriving at the house, Levi was internally shocked when he saw just _how_ large the house was. It was massive. 

"Here we are. Home, Sweet home." Carla sang jovially. 

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Levi breathed out quietly as he took in the entirety of Eren's parents home. _'Just how loaded are these people?'_ he momentarily wondered. 

The four of them exited the beat up old pick up truck and Eren immediately began unloading their luggage while Mikasa jogged inside the massive house. Carla stuck around to chide Eren for trying to carry so many bags all at once and Eren, the clumsy idiot that he was, ended up toppling a mountain of heavy bags over until he was practically buried in luggage. Levi rolled his eyes and sighed heavily before eventually deciding to help him. 

"Oh, be careful, Levi." Carla said with concern lacing her voice as the shorter man effortlessly lifted the heavy bags that were burying Eren. "Oh, my!" she eventually exclaimed with a hand to her gaping mouth. 

Levi might have been shorter than average men but that didn't mean he was any weaker. In fact, it was quite the opposite really. He lifted the enormous suitcase - that was admittedly his - with such ease, it was almost if it weighed nothing. Eren blinked at him in stunned surprise before he scrambled to his feet, dusting his pants off in the process. Levi noted that the ground was a little soft and muddy in some patches and he grimaced a bit. He did not want to be anywhere near mud or dirt and heaven forbid if he get his expensive boots full of either or both. 

"Thanks, I guess." Eren said, one hand rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck. 

"Don't thank me just yet, Jaeger." Levi shoved the heavy bag into Eren's chest causing a soft 'oomph' sound to escape the brunet's lungs as he clumsily caught it.

Carla only seemed amused by the interaction between the two men. A certain fondness in her warm eyes as she shook her head. Eren grumbled and shot him an indignant glare, to which Levi simply ignored as he picked up the rest of his luggage. Carla had left them alone briefly as she wandered into the house and Levi chose this moment to ask the million dollar question. Literally. 

"So, you didn't tell me you were fucking loaded. Care to explain?" 

"I'm not loaded," Eren said coolly. "My parents are. More specifically, my dad is." 

"Tch," Levi sucked his teeth in annoyance loudly. "That's such a spoiled rich kid thing to say. If I didn't like you before, I really can't fucking stand you now." 

"The feeling is mutual." the brunet flashed Levi a charming grin, all pearly white teeth and dimples and Levi paused to stare for a moment. 

Damn it all. Why did his idiot of an assistant have to be so good looking? Surely, there couldn't possibly exist a person who's both that attractive and inept and yet here Eren Jaeger stands. Okay, so maybe Levi was being a little unfair. Eren was only really an idiot when he was clumsy, which was most times, but otherwise Eren had become rather good at his job and Levi didn't have to get after him _nearly_ as much as he had to when Eren first started working for him.

There was a yell in the distance and both Eren and Levi turned to see two massive beasts heading right for them. One a blurry flash of solid black and the other an even quicker flash of snow white. 

Levi's eyes widened fractionally, "Shit-"

He didn't even have the chance to say the rest of his string of curses as all the breath in his lungs was forced out of his body with the sudden weight of whatever creature had just attacked him sitting on his chest. He wheezed, struggling to suck in air but finding it hard to do as he felt a slimy wet tongue start lavishing hungrily at his face. Levi jerked his head away from the slobbery mouth of teeth and hot panting breaths, growling in protest. 

"-The fuck!" was all he could croak out before the heavy weight was removed from his chest and he could breath again. 

"Cheese! _Fuß!_ " ( _"Heel!"_ ) Carla came jogging toward them slightly out of breath. " _Nein! Pfui!_ " ( _"No! Bad dog!"_ )

Levi could hear the saddened whines and whimpers of a dog as Carla finally reached them and took hold of the white beast that had attacked him. The raven sat up slowly from his spot on the moist ground scowling, still trying to catch his breath and feeling the cold wetness of fresh mud on his backside. Levi was almost livid as his eyes whipped up to see his offender but he was only met face to face with a smug looking Eren and a contrite looking Carla as both of them each held onto a furry beast of their own. 

Upon second glance, Levi realized they weren't beasts- well, they were beasts to him at least - but two very large German Shepard dogs. Figures, Levi thought. Eren loosely held onto the collar of the larger black one, looking like the demon guard dog of hell as it growled lowly at Levi, teeth bared at him. The brunet's shoulders shook lightly as he held in his laughter at Levi's poor state, sitting flat on his ass on the ground. His gunmetal eyes turned to look at the other German Shepard Carla was restraining firmly by it's collar. A solid snowy white pelt on this one but unlike the black demon dog that had been practically glaring at him, this one seemed much less hostile as it's mouth hung open, tongue lolled out to the side giving it a rather goofy expression instead. It seemed to be vibrating with excited energy, yet at the same time Levi couldn't help but think the thing was looking at him like he wanted to eat him. 

"I am so sorry, Levi. Cheese tends to get a little over-excited whenever Eren comes home. He's really quite sweet." 

Levi said nothing as he slowly began rising to his feet. Eren stopped acting like the smug little shit he was and thrust out a hand to help Levi up but the raven-haired man simply shot him a withering glare and Eren realized his mistake. If there was one thing Levi absolutely could not tolerate above anything else, it was dirt of any kind. Eren could see the way Levi was silently seething with barely contained rage. Retracting his hand back rather awkwardly after Levi stood up on his own, Eren watched with anxious anticipation as the older man quietly dusted himself off to his best abilities. Carla had taken control of the two wild German Shepard dogs and herded them back into the house leaving Eren and Levi to their own devices, much to Eren's dread. 

"Hey, look, I'm sorry, Le-" 

"Shower." Levi interrupted, coldly brushing past Eren without so much as a glance. Their shoulders bumped together roughly and Eren stumbled back a step before he was watching as Levi stocked off ahead of him.

\- ▼ -

The inside of Eren's house was even more impressive than the outside, if Levi was being honest with himself. It almost irritated him just how wide and spacious everything was, with high ceilings and grand chandeliers. And yet, despite all it's grandeur Levi could tell that the house was comfortably lived in. A broken in house, as he'd heard it once called. It felt like a home should; Warm, comforting and all kinds of welcoming. He'd always heard people say that a home reflects it's owners and in this case, Levi could see much of Eren's mother Carla in her own home.

Still, as much as Levi wanted to admire the Jaeger home further, he was still very much covered in mud and dirt from Eren's savage dog and his mood would be a foul one until he was properly bathed and clean once more. Carla had been a kind hostess and offered to show Levi to the room where he'd be staying first, before whisking him away to give him a grand tour of their home. He was at least grateful to her for that much. 

"The bath is through that door there. It should already have fresh towels and linens." she said while herding him toward the bathroom in question. Levi noticed that Carla was rather pushy, something Eren seemed to have inherited from her. "If you need anything else, feel free to let Eren know." she chirped before finally turning to leave Levi to his own devices. "Oh, and Levi!" Said man barely contained a sigh as he turned slowly to face his cheerful host, "Welcome to our Home." 

Levi couldn't help but blink in stunned silence as Carla spoke tenderly and with so much warmth in her voice. It was strange, Levi thought. Never in his life had he ever met someone as motherly and kind as Carla Jaeger. Well, that wasn't true. There was one other person he could recall being as warm and kind as Carla but he'd much rather not dwell on that memory. Point is, it was rare to come across someone so genuinely sweet and caring in this day and age. Perhaps he'd just gotten too used to the cold, cynical atmosphere of New York City but regardless of what it was, Levi managed a small grateful smile in Carla's direction. 

"Thank you, Carla." 

Carla seemed pleased as she left the room and Levi was finally- finally! - left alone to himself. His first and only thought; a long, hot bath. 

Once inside the bathroom, that Levi also noted was just as impressive as the rest of the Jaeger house, he peeled off his filthy clothing in disgust and while it would have never happened in any other situation, especially not in his own home, Levi left his muddy blazer and slacks piled on the ground. He'd be damned if he was going to touch that shit. It was bad enough that he literally felt like his skin was crawling, and this only urged him to start the bath all the more quickly. 

He took his time in the shower, letting the blistering hot stream of water run down his scalp, back and legs as he let out a groan. He could still feel the dull throb of a headache in the back of his skull but it was minor compared to when he regained consciousness in the truck earlier. He felt like his head would explode. Now, the pain was slightly more tolerable but he felt drained and tired. His muscles ached from sleeping in awkward positions, no doubt, and the hot water helped sooth all his creaky joints. Age was a terrible thing, he thought briefly. When did he start feeling so _old_? He was only thirty-three. So, then why did he feel like he was sixty?

All depressing thoughts of age aside, Levi's shower was pleasant and while he would have loved nothing more than to stay in there for the rest of the trip, even he knew he had to face Eren and his family eventually. He couldn't help but drag his feet a bit as he exited the heavenly shower with a towel wrapped tightly around his waist, his fringe dripping wet. 

He wiped a hand across the steamed mirror over the vanity and stared at his own reflection. One would never guess Levi was the same person if they ever saw him in this state. His hair when wet tended to give him a more youthful look and he quickly grabbed a fresh towel to roughly dry his dripping hair with. Steel grey eyes lingered on the soft to dark ink of his tattoos, tracing the graceful lines and curves before he quickly snapped them away. A knot settling heavily in his stomach, giving him a sour feeling. 

Levi sauntered out of the bathroom, into the cool chill of the surprisingly large bedroom. He hadn't taken the time to appreciate the decor until now but he didn't have that luxury. He needed to dress and quickly. Luckily, his luggage was already in the room and Levi swiftly hoisted one of his suitcases onto the queen sized bed, popping it open and rifling through his selection of clothing. Honestly, he'd probably brought more clothing than was necessary for this trip. They were only going to be here for three days, but Levi was always the type of person to come fully prepared with extra clothes. 

Pulling out one of his many turtlenecks, Levi matched the dark top with a pair of black tailored pants. He changed in a flash, slipping the tight fitted black turtle neck on last and covering up his exposed skin. He carded a hand through his hair, rummaging through his suitcase for his comb and hair-gel so that he could groom his still dampened locks into it's usual neat style. He furrowed his brows in frustration when he could find his comb in the pocket where he thought he put it and he moved onto the next suitcase, noticing belatedly that he was missing one of his suitcases. He'd brought three in total, all varying in size from largest to small. 

" _Fils de pute_ ," Levi cursed under his breath, roughly threading a hand through his hair. ( _"Son of a bitch,"_ )

As if on cue, Levi heard Eren walk into the room just then. 

"Levi, we gotta go-" Eren trailed off into silence. Levi was currently too preoccupied searching for his missing suitcase to notice the way the brunet in question was simply staring at him from the entrance of the bedroom. 

"Oi, Eren. Where the fuck is my other suitcase?" he grumbled, rounding the bed to make sure maybe he hadn't just overlooked the suitcase somehow if it were placed on the other side of the bed. He growled when he found nothing and finally, cool silver eyes looked up to see Eren staring at him with his mouth slightly hanging open. "Tch, Oi!" Levi said with a snapping of his fingers. 

Eren blinked in surprise at Levi's sharp tone, "Huh? What'd you say?" he asked dumbly. 

Levi sighed harshly through his nose, " Fucking hell, are you deaf as well as stupid? I said, where. the. fuck. is. my. suitcase?" he punctuated each word with a small step toward the brunet who gulped and took a step back in response. 

"What are you talking about? All your suitcases should be there." 

"Well, obviously they're not, genius. Did you make sure that all of my bags were together when we got off the plane?" 

Eren snorted with a disbelieving look, "Oh, I'm sorry, but how exactly did you expect me to keep track of all of our bags when I was a little busy carrying your unconscious body off the god damn plane?" 

Levi fixed him with a stern glare, "Eren, just give me a straight answer. Is my suitcase here or not?" 

The taller man sighed, "I guess not," he ran a hand through his messy brown hair, Levi only just now noticed that Eren didn't have his hair slicked back like he usually did at the office and his fringe framed his face giving him a much more youthful look now. "Look, I'll call the airport and file a missing bag report and if it's still at the airport, I'll drive you there myself tomorrow to pick it up. Think you can survive one night without it?" 

At Eren's question, Levi only huffed before running another hand through his hair to try and tame it into some semblance of order, but it was futile. Each time he ran his hand through his hair to smooth it back, ebony locks fell back into their natural off-center part and Levi eventually gave up even trying. 

"Whatever, fuck it."

"I don't see what the problem is," Eren said once Levi had brushed past him. "I think that hairstyle suits you better." 

"You'd think you'd learn by now. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Now, what the fuck did you come in here for?" 

The younger man sighed, choosing not to fight with his boss who he knew was really no match for him when it came to arguments. Levi's word was always final. 

"Mom wanted me to come get you. Apparently, they decided to have a kind of 'Welcome home' party for me and the entire town is practically downstairs. She wants you to come meet them. You know, since we're a _couple_ and all that shit." 

Levi stiffened at the mention of a party. He wasn't exactly a very social person, in fact, not many people knew this but Levi was socially awkward. Almost painfully so. He avoided parties like the plague, even company parties. Sure, he had to be there to entertain a client, he'd only ever go just to show his face, say a few curt greetings and he was out of there before anyone could know he was there otherwise. Erwin and Hanji liked to joke about his inability to socialize often but it was no laughing matter to Levi. He was absolutely horrible when it came to socializing and he'd rather hang himself with his own necktie than have to mingle with a bunch of strangers. It was one thing to have to mingle with strangers from work, but a whole other thing to mingle with strangers who had nothing to do with business at all. 

"Do I really have to?" Levi almost groaned, like a teenager being forced to go to their grandmother's house. 

"Hey," Eren fixed him with a chiding glare that made Levi feel strangely reprimanded. "This is all your doing, you know. If you hadn't gone along with Hanji's lie, neither of us would be in this situation." 

"Tch, don't blame this shit on me, Jaeger. I didn't tell you to lie to your family about our relationship."

"How else was I supposed to explain why I brought my boss back home with me? I wouldn't have had to lie to my family if you hadn't put me in this situation in the first place!" 

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling that headache coming back around.

"Alright, look." He said, putting a quick end to this pointless argument. "Obviously, we're already too deep in shit to back out now. So, let's just try to fucking work together and make it at least _look_ like we're an actual couple." 

Eren huffed, "Fine, but how exactly are we going to make it seem like we're an actual couple?" 

That was actually a very good question, Levi thought. How _were_ they going to make it seem like they were a real couple when obviously, anyone could tell just by looking at them that they weren't? They had no real chemistry, well aside from annoying the hell out of each other but Hanji had always said that their constant bickering was a form of flirtation as well. Levi never wanted to believe her bullshit theory but in this case, it looked like he would have to take her word for it. 

"Okay, listen up and listen good, Jaeger." Levi glanced back to see Eren sitting on the foot of the bed casually, a look of patience on his face which was odd, even for him. "Apparently, the only thing we have going for ourselves is our apparent dislike of one another but Hanji seems to be under the impression that our 'Cat-and-Dog' act is a pretty couple-y thing to do so we may as well play off of that for now." 

"Meaning?" Eren drawled. 

"Meaning, we throw around a couple of playful insults, hold hands if we absolutely have to and fake it till we make it. No point in trying to act like a perfect, lovey-dovey couple when we're obviously anything but." 

The brunet looked thoughtful for a moment or two, gnawing on his bottom lip as he slowly began nodding his head in agreement. 

"Okay, I think that could work. We'll use that whole "Enemies to lovers" trope you read about in all those cheesy romance novels." 

"Exactly. So, do we have a deal?" 

"Obviously," Eren snorted. "But uh, just in case, shouldn't we maybe brief each other on a few details?" 

"Like what?" Levi exasperated. 

"Like, how long have we supposedly been dating? Who confessed first? Do we stay at your place or mine? Shit like that. You know people are going to ask." 

Damn it, Eren actually had a good point. He didn't want to have another disaster like that one they nearly had with Nile. Eren nearly blew their cover but thankfully, Nile is a fucking idiot. 

"Let's keep it simple," Levi suggested. "We started officially dating six months ago but kept it secret from most of our friends and family because we thought it would be inappropriate given our positions in the company. You confessed to me first-"

"Wait, wait, why do _I_ have to be the one who confessed first?" 

Levi gave him a look that said 'Don't-be-stupid' but Eren held his ground, "Because, do I honestly look like the type of person to be the first to pour my heart and soul out to the person I'm in love with?"

Eren stared at him up and down, almost appreciatively if Levi hadn't known any better but then he was snorting again with a smirk. 

"Yeah, you're probably right. It would be more believable if I was the one who confessed first. I could use some bullshit excuse saying that I waited so long to tell you how I feel because I was worried you'd reject me." 

"Whatever. Your place or mine? We'll worry about that later." Levi glanced over to see the unimpressed look on Eren's face and he rolled his eyes. "Think about it, you dumbass. Is anyone really going to be asking us about our sex life? I doubt it." 

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Eren laughed sardonically. 

"Alright, we'll say your place then since you probably live in some studio apartment further away from the office and it would mean we're less likely to be seen together." 

"What makes you say _that_?" Eren frowned. 

"Because, I live in Central Park East." 

"Oh." 

"Exactly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder to anyone not aware of my recent tumblr post.  
> I'm going to be on a hiatus, so updates for majority of my fics will be minimal if not halted completely. 
> 
> I posted this chapter because it's been sitting in my drafts for two and half months and while it was unfinished, I figured I could post it anyway. So, don't expect anymore updates for this. At least not anytime soon. I'll probably update my smaller One Piece fics but that's about it. 
> 
> So, enjoy this surprise update and hopefully I'll be able to start writing from a laptop again soon!


	4. Meet the Jäger Family pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I'm finally updating this after almost a year! I am so fucking sorry for not paying more attention to this fic because it's still one of my faves.  
> Hopefully updating with a new chapter will kick my butt into gear and I'll be able to post more updates for this fic in the near future!

Levi walked side by side down the staircase with Eren and he stopped six steps short of the landing.

The brunet stopped one step from the bottom and turned back to shoot a questioning look up at his employer and noticing the strained look on the older man's face. 

"Nervous?" Eren smirked. 

"Shut up." Levi grumbled quietly under his breath. 

Despite all of Levi's earlier confidence, he would admit to himself that he was actually starting to feel... nervous. Which was ridiculous, in hindsight, because it's not as though Levi was _actually_ dating Eren for real, therefore he should have nothing to feel nervous about; right? 

The brunet let out an impatient huff as he waited for Levi to continue descending the stairs, but eventually, Even Eren's patience ran out and he stomped back up a couple of steps before he reached out a hand and grasped one of Levi's. The raven immediately stiffened at the warm contact and he frowned. 

"What the fuck are you doing, Eren?" 

"Just trust me." the younger man said with an eye roll, and then he was leading a still somewhat reluctant Levi down the stairs and into his family's sitting room. 

As the two men entered the room hand-in-hand, the both stopped just short of the door frame and took in the crowd before them. There were several people all squashed together in one room; some sitting on the comfortable leather couches and love seats while others milled about socializing. 

"Fuck," Levi heard Eren curse quietly. "Mom wasn't kidding when she said the entire town was here." 

"No shit," the shorter man grumbled. "Is it too late to turn around and hide in my room while faking an illness for the rest of the trip?" 

To his surprise, he heard Eren give a soft snort of laughter and that little noise did wonders to ease some of Levi's anxiety. At least he knew he wasn't the only one reluctant to be at this party, because Eren seemed just as inclined to this whole thing as he did. Then, he felt the brunet squeeze his hand in what Levi assumed was reassurance and it prompted him to look up at his counterpart. 

Bright teal eyes sparkled down at him, "Come on, Boss." Eren grinned. "Let's put on a good show and get this over with." 

Despite himself, Levi felt the corner of his mouth curl just the tiniest bit and he immediately felt like a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It was truly a curious thing, how a smile from his clumsy assistant disarmed him so quickly. Comforting and reassuring were two words Levi would have never associated with Eren Jaeger before now. 

"Well, look at you two." Carla's sweet voice said as said woman approached the two men. Eren slipped his hand out of Levi's and the raven tried not to acknowledge the sense of loss he felt from it. "I'm not just saying this because I'm Eren's mother, but you two really compliment each other so well." 

The brunette woman stepped up to Eren first and cupped both of his cheeks so she could pull his face down and plant a loving kiss to his forehead causing Levi to snort quietly. Had they been alone, Levi probably would have teased Eren endlessly about being a Mama's boy. 

"My handsome boy," Carla cooed. " _Es freut mich für dich, Sonnenschein._ " ( _I'm glad for you, sunshine._ )

Then, Carla turned to Levi and the man was not prepared for the warm hug the older woman enveloped him causing him to stiffen up. The hug wasn't too tight, but it did make Levi feel just the slightest bit claustrophobic because of all the direct contact. He was not at all used to hugging anyone or having anyone hug him, for that matter. He tolerated Hanji's random boa constrictor-like hugs because he had no other choice; the woman was like a force of nature.

"Welcome to our family, Levi." he heard Carla say softly next to his ear before she made a move to step back and she kissed his cheek.

Levi couldn't choke down the mild sense of hysteria that was building up in his throat, and it made itself known in a startled sort of noise of affirmation in the back of his throat that had Eren shooting him a slightly worried look. 

"Mutti," Eren smiled tightly at his mother who was busy giving Levi the same treatment she'd given Eren by cupping one of his cheeks and fussing with his fringe. "Why is everyone here? I thought you said you only invited the family and a few of the bakery owners?" 

"Nonsense!" Carla chided with a disapproving frown at her only child. "It's been three years since you've been home, Eren Michael Jaeger. Naturally everyone is eager to see you after so long." 

The brunet winced slightly at his mother's use of his middle name and that was all it took to snap Levi out of his mild shock from Carla's affectionate fussing. Grey eyes sparkled in quiet amusement and Eren shot his boss a petulant pout. 

"Carla," a stern voice called and had Carla whipping around and smiling lovingly at a tall man with long chestnut hair and round wire-framed glasses who approached the three of them. 

"Grisha, come and meet Eren's friend!" the brunette woman chirped as she locked arms with one of her husbands. 

The obviously displeased look on Grisha's face told Levi a little more than he wanted to know about the man. Unlike Eren's mother, Grisha Jaeger had no warmth in his green eyes that were not the same stunning shade of startling teal as Eren's. While he shared the same rich chestnut color of hair as Eren's, Levi could see almost no resemblance between his younger assistant and his father. 

"Dad," Eren greeted blandly. " _Wie geht es Ihnen?_ " ( _"How are you?"_ )

" _Mir geht es gut._ " the man returned without missing a beat. "Introduce me." ( _"I'm well."_ )

The younger brunet did nothing for a few seconds, as if in defiance of his father's orders. Levi could see it in Eren's eyes and the set of his determined brows; he would not allow his father the satisfaction of bossing him around. Eventually, Carla stepped in when the silence stretched on a little too long. 

"Dear, this is Eren's friend Levi. You remember, ja? Eren's mentioned him before." 

Grisha's eyes flicked from a defiant Eren to Levi and the raven felt a stab of anxiety once again. Something about Grisha Jaeger unsettled him, and that was a hard thing to do to Levi Ackerman. Clearing his throat, Levi straightened and offered his right hand to shake despite his strict dislike of shaking hands with anyone. 

"Dr. Jaeger, I'm Levi Ackerman." he greeted curtly. 

The physician's eyes narrowed at his name, "Ackerman?" he said, mouth turning down into a severe frown. "You're Eren's Boss." 

"... I am."

Cold green eyes turned back to a very uncertain looking Eren and Grisha sighed. "Eren, what is the meaning of this?" 

"Grisha," Carla warned before she lowered her voice and seemed to chide her husband in German. Grisha in turn looked slightly cowed after his wife's stern words, whatever they were. 

" _Ich verstehe._ " the older Jaeger seemed to acquiesce. 

"Eren!" a boyish voice called out next, causing all four figures to turn and stare at the blond who came rushing up to them all.

"Armin!" the brunet greeted with a wide smile before he was enveloped in a tight hug. " _Na, Was geht ab?_ " ( _"Hey, What's up?"_ )

" _Viel. Bei mir ist derzeit einiges los._ " ( _A lot. There’s a lot going on with me right now._ )

Levi stood off to the side with Mr. & Mrs. Jaeger as Eren chatted with the blond, who, much to Levi's mild annoyance, was slightly taller than Levi as well. It seemed Levi was the shortest one in this room full of people, but then again, he supposed that was nothing new, really. The raven simply crossed his arms tightly across his chest and studied the blond who was chatting with Eren very animatedly. 

He was very lean with long shoulder length flaxen hair tied back in a short pony tail of sorts. The thick glasses he was wearing did no justice for the glimpses of deep shappire Levi got whenever the frame slid down his narrow nose. Overall, Armin was rather pretty, if not a little bookish. 

"Armin, this is Levi." Eren suddenly introduced, and Levi might have almost missed the transition between languages had it not been for Eren gesturing toward him. "Levi, this is my best friend Armin Arlert."

The blond blinked owlishly at the Raven who simply spared the blond a passing glance of grey eyes, but he smiled regardless of Levi's disinterest. 

" _Hallo!_ " Armin greeted cheerfully, before he started speaking to Levi in German prompting an annoyed glare directed at a smirking Eren who seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. 

Levi decided to get a little fun out of this himself, " _Ce quoi ces histoires-la? Y a de la parlotte._ " ( _"What crap is he telling me? He talks a lot."_ )

The blond seemed floored before he started laughing nervously, while Eren's mother seemed heavily impressed and awed by whatever Levi had just said and both Eren and Grisha seemed a bit annoyed. Levi only shrugged nonchalantly.

" _Tu me prends pur un poisson?"_ " ( _"You think I'm a fish [stupid]?"_ ) 

"Okay, I probably deserved whatever insults you probably said about me." Armin giggled while wiping away some tears in his big ocean blue eyes. "I apologize for being a jerk, Levi. But Eren implied you couldn't speak German and we thought we'd poke a little fun is all. I hope you aren't too mad." 

"I don't need to understand German in order to know when I'm being made a fool of." 

"You are fluent in french, Levi?" Carla asked excitedly. 

He shrugged one of his shoulders halfheartedly, "Of course." 

"How wonderful," Eren's mother continued to praise. "Perhaps Eren could learn a few things from you, ja?" 

"Perhaps, but..." Levi mused with a slight smirk as he noticed Eren's annoyed expression. " _Il est niaiseux._ " ( _"He's stupid."_ )

"Agreed," a new voice joined the conversation. "I see someone else hold's the same opinion of you as I do, Jaeger." 

Eren exaggerated an eye roll as he turned to face the new voice who turned out to be another man about Eren's age, Levi assumed. If there was one word the raven would use to describe this young man's face, it would definitely have to be horsey. While he wasn't _unattractive_ by any means, his face was just a tad bit too long for Levi's taste and the guy just seemed to have "Jack-Ass" blinking across his forehead in big neon lights. 

"Well, if it isn't Flicka." Eren sneered, causing Levi to mask a snort of laughter with a fake cough behind a fisted hand. "I think we should call Uncle Braus, Mutti. One of his horses escaped again!" 

This comment earned him a scandalized 'Eren!' from his mother and a punch in the arm from none other than Mikasa who joined the horse-faced guy's side once she'd thoroughly punched some sense into her brother who rubbed at his injured arm with a betrayed glare. 

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not a suicidal psycho!" horse-face taunted back. 

"Jean, please don't encourage him." Carla Jaeger sighed, seeming used to this type of exchange between the two younger men. 

"Indeed," Grisha sniffed his nose. "If you'll all excuse me, I believe Mr. Pixis wanted to speak with me regarding one of his stores." 

The older Jaeger stepped away from the group and Levi immediately felt himself relax just a bit, now that he was no longer under the constant close-up scrutiny of Grisha Jaeger. As much as it pained Levi to even think it, he'd much rather avoid that man as much as possible this weekend. He didn't seem very keen on Levi, but then again, not many people were. 

His attention was soon turned back to the two bickering young men who were flinging insult after insult with one another. Carla seemed resigned to letting her son vent out some of his obvious frustration on her just as equally frustrating son-in-law, but Levi had no intentions of standing around and waiting for his inept assistant to get tired of arguing with Mikasa's husband. 

"Oi, Eren." and that was all it took for the brunet to stop speaking mid-insult and turn to cock one thick eyebrow at Levi in question. "I'm thirsty as all fu-- ah, as all hell." Levi caught himself about to curse and glanced Carla's way uncertainly. 

"Oh, that's right! How rude of you, Eren! Levi doesn't know his way around the house yet, so go show him! Go on!" 

Carla began to show her son along while Eren flashed a sheepish smile Levi's way. Something odd stirred inside Levi's stomach at that alarmingly disarming smile of his but he chose to quash it down as much as possible, choosing not to think too much about it; he wasn't lying about being thirsty as fuck, though. 

"Sorry about that," Eren said as he led Levi into what was very obviously the kitchen. "Mikasa's stupid husband just never fails to piss me off." 

"You seem to piss off quite a lot of people." Levi said passively. 

"No, I don't." the brunet snorted.

"Admit it, Eren. You seem to have a natural talent for pushing people's buttons." 

"I--... that's not..." he trailed off with an irritated huff and then Eren was opening the massive fridge doors and ducking behind them so that Levi could no longer see his expression. "What do you wanna drink?" came his grumbled response. 

"Water, if you have it. I've still got a bit of a headache from all the Jack on the plane." 

"Don't you mean from those weird pills Hanji gave you?" came Eren's smug reply as he handed Levi an ice cold bottle of heaven. 

Levi waited to shoot off a snarky reply until after he'd cracked the seal on his bottle and taken a long deliberate swig of his water. The snarky reply never came, however, as he was suddenly reminded that he was supposed to call his idiot of a best friend and her just as idiotic husband. Okay, Erwin didn't deserve being called an idiot just because he married one. 

"Fuck, I was supposed to call that crazy lunatic once we'd landed. She's probably going insane pacing by the phone or something." 

"There's a terrace outside, if you want to call her out there for some privacy." The brunet jerked his head in the direction of a single back door that did indeed lead out to a terrace and Levi decided to take his offer on that. 

Without so much as a thanks, Levi moved past Eren and made for the back door letting himself out. The air outside was just the tiniest bit nippy, but it wasn't anything Levi couldn't handle. He'd experienced worse chills than this one anyway. 

In one swift motion, he pulled out his phone from his trouser pocket and unlocked the screen. Then he activated the voice command and spoke. 

"Call Shitty-glasses." 

The line took a moment to connect the call and then it was no surprise to Levi at all when it rang only once before Hanji was picking up and practically screeching into the phone's receiver. 

" _ARE YOU ALIVE?! DID YOU LAND SAFELY!? DID ANYONE TRY TO KIDNAP YOU??!?_ "

Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Would I be calling you if I were dead and/or kidnapped?" 

_"Don't you sass me, Levi Ackerman! Erwin and I have been worried sick waiting for a phone call from you."_

_"Actually, Hanji was the one who was worried sick. I was the one who kept telling her you were fine."_ Erwin's voice carried over from the background.

"Well, gee, thanks. At least I know Erwin trusts me to be a sane, safe adult." 

_"It's not a matter of whether or not I trust you, Levi. I know better than anyone that you're a tough little munchkin who can kick any man's ass. But you're thousands of miles away from us in a foreign country! Can you blame me for being a little worried for you?"_

"Thc, fine whatever. I'm fine, you can stop worrying now." the raven grumbled, not liking all this concern and attention focused on him. 

_"Okay, good. So, how's it going over there?"_

"About as well as you could expect," Levi snorted sarcastically. "His mother loves me, his father hates me, his sister couldn't really give a damn about me and his best friend probably thinks I'm a major dick. The same old shit."

 _"Sounds like fun!"_ Hanji cackled. _"But, hey, at least his mother loves you, right? Better to have one parent hate you than both. Look at Erwin and me; his parents HATED me and my parents LOVED him! But we made it work, right snookums?"_

Levi could hear Erwin's patient sigh in the background, _"It's 'Erwin and I', sweetheart, and my parents didn't _HATE_ you. They just thought you were a little too energetic for me sometimes."_

"That's an understatement." Levi mumbled. 

_"ANYWAY, my point is, just butter up Eren's mom as much as possible, you know? Give her compliments, tell her she looks pretty and offer to help her whenever you can. Nothing wrong with a little sucking up, sweetie. Lying will get you everywhere in life!"_

"You're fucking terrible at giving advice, you know that?"

 _"Yes, we're aware."_ Erwin's voice replaced Hanji's. _"But, I have to agree, Levi. Maybe a little sucking up would do you some good there."_

"And why the fuck would I want to suck up to Eren's parents in the first place, huh?" the raven frowned, shivering slightly when a particularly biting wind hit him smack in the face. "It's not as if I give an actual flying fuck whether his family likes me or not. I'm not even really dating their son; I don't even fucking like him, Erwin."

The silence that hung between the call told Levi enough of what Hanji and Erwin probably thought of what he just said. Even Levi would admit, saying he didn't even _like_ Eren sounded a little too false even to his own ears. 

_"Yes, well, that's true, I suppose."_  
_"Someone's in denial."_ Levi heard Hanji whisper and it caused him to roll his eyes skyward. 

"Whatever, can I go now? I've already confirmed that I didn't die and I haven't been kidnapped and sold to some foreign human sex trafficking ring."

Hanji made a squawking noise that Levi assumed was her trying to get angry at him for talking about something so terrible so lightly, but instead of Hanji screaming at him over the phone, he got Erwin's patient and polite baritone instead. 

_"Yes, yes. You can go now, Levi. Just be sure to check in with us every now and then so my wife won't keep me up at all hours of the night waiting for your call again."_

Levi didn't deign that request with a verbal answer, instead he simply gave a sarcastic snort before he ended the call. He would never say it out loud, but he felt a certain sense of peace after speaking to his two best friends. Funny how a small thing like a simple phone call could ease the tiny prickles of anxiety he had felt bubbling in the pit of his stomach since he left JFK airport yesterday. Inhaling and exhaling heavily, Levi collected himself and straightened up from where he'd been leaning over a wooden railing overlooking a mostly lush garden and a cobblestone path leading out to a pier on a small lake. 

"Mr. Ackerman," a painfully familiar stern voice called from behind him.

Cursing quietly to himself, Levi reluctantly turned back see none other than Grisha Jaeger standing on the wooden deck with him looking just as unhappy and somber as he had when Levi was first introduced into him.

"I was hoping the two of us could speak regarding the reason for why you're here with my son." 

"I don't really think that's anyone business but Eren and myself." the shorter man said icily, earning him a just as cold look from Grisha. 

"Understand one thing before we go any further with this conversation, Mr. Ackerman. Eren is _my_ son, therefore, anything he does and anyone he associates himself with is my business as well as his mother's." 

Levi couldn't help but frown at that, "He's twenty-six-years-old. He's not a child, Mr. Jaeger." 

Grisha regarded Levi with a cool glare before he broke eye contact and looked out toward the murky lake, an almost thoughtful expression on his face that caught Levi a bit off guard.

"Do you have any children, Mr. Ackerman?" 

"Of course not." came Levi's immediate reply. 

"Then how could I ever expect you to understand the feelings of a parent concerned for their own child's well being?"

At this, Levi sighed. "Mr. Jaeger, I'm not entirely sure what you want from me, but I can tell you this; If you want some sort of explanation for my being here, considering it seems to bother you quite a bit, I would suggest asking Eren himself." Then, he straightened up once more and smoothed out the front of his black turtleneck. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Levi was all too happy to go back inside the house and get as far away from Grisha Jaeger as possible. All the anxiety he'd had building from earlier now settled at the bottom of his stomach like a sinking rock and he all but power walked right into Eren's broad back when he absently entered the front sitting room again. 

The brunet turned and looked down at Levi, flashing that big smile at him and Levi's lurching stomach and jittery nerves calmed just the tiniest bit; it was like a breath of relief seeing that idiotic, carefree expression. Something familiar and grounding for Levi. 

"Hey, that took longer than I would have expected. Did Miss Hanji start rambling about something again?" Eren asked. 

"Eren," Grisha Jaeger's voice beckoned from the entrance of the kitchen making Levi stiffen just the slightest bit. 

The raven cast a glance back toward where the man was standing and he noticed how hard Grisha's glare was, the usual frown on his aging face even deep than it had been before. To be frank, Grisha Jaeger looked _pissed_ and Levi could only guess why.

"Wait," Eren murmured quietly. "Did my dad say something to you?" 

Suddenly, big concerned teal eyes were focused a little too intensely on Levi and the raven shifted his weight over from foot to foot feeling a little uncomfortable under Eren's stare. Like fuck Levi was going to tell Eren about the _lovely_ conversation he'd had with his charming Father. 

"Not really," the shorter man lied easily enough, though he found that he had to look at a spot just slightly past Eren's shoulder instead of directly at his face.

Bright teal eyes narrowed in suspicion and Levi decided it wasn't worth trying to fool his assistant who was obviously more aware of how his own father probably acted in certain situations than Levi was. 

"Levi," Eren's voice lowered in concern. "What did he tell you?" 

"It's not a big deal, Eren. He just wanted to know why the fuck his kid's boss was here spending the weekend with them. I told him it was nobody's fucking business and then I told him just to ask you himself instead of trying to weasel information out of me."

The brunet looked down at his boss with a mixture of shock and mild awe and Levi sucked his teeth and looked away, feeling a little too exposed all of a sudden. Fuck the Jaeger's and their weird fucking way of making Levi talk about things he hated talking about. Clearly, it was a genetic thing because Carla had managed to get him to admit to not having a family and Grisha had more or less forced Levi to talk. _'Note to self: Never piss off the Jaegers.'_ Levi thought to himself wryly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm apologizing ahead of time if there are any mistakes/typos/errors. I'm posting this completely un-beta'd/un-proof read because the weather had been absolute SHIT here in South Texas and the rain loves to fuck with my power.
> 
> A LOT happening in this scene, so, had to cut it into two parts. Dunno when the next part to this will be up, but hopefully soon! 
> 
> *As for my french and german in this chapter, a couple of things to note here.
> 
> \- The german I used when Eren is speaking to his father is supposed to be the formal way of greeting someone, though if any native german speakers want to correct me on anything I did wrong here, let me know!
> 
> \- Levi is actually speaking Quebecois, instead of the usual french. Because apparently French-Canadian is a lot different than plain old french in terms of certain expressions they use and slang.  
> For future reference, I might have Levi speak mostly normal French instead of Quebecois but there will be the occasional Quebecois phrase thrown around here or there whenever I get the urge to slip them in. So, apologies to my french readers who might get confused with Levi's french in this. He's french-canadian, after all!


	5. I Never Saw You Coming My Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second part to the last chapter! 
> 
> Eren's drop the bomb! 
> 
> Chapter title was taken from the song **Wishes by RHODES.**

Surprisingly, Armin had been the one to approach Levi first and initiate conversation while Eren walked off into the kitchen to talk with his father. 

Levi could still see part of Eren's face as he stood near the threshold turned away partially at an angle. Grisha, on the other hand, was completely obscured but Levi didn't really mind that. Whatever the older and younger Jaeger were discussing, it was all in hushed german but Eren did not look happy in the least. 

"There's a lot of tension, between Eren and Dr. Jaeger, I mean." Armin's voice snapped Levi back to the blond who was smiling tightly at him. "Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a gossip or anything. It's just... you looked a bit curious, is all." 

"Hn," Levi grunted, taking a sip of his half-finished water bottle and swallowing slowly. "Well, it is a bit hard not to notice." 

The blond nodded his head in a sympathetic gesture, "Dr. Jaeger means well, but, I know he can come off a bit rough around the edges. Kind of like you." 

"Rough around the edges..." Levi sneered. "Is that a polite way of saying we're both assholes?" 

Armin shrugged, "Sure, you can interpret it however you want. I'm actually a little surprised you didn't already expect Dr. Jaeger to be a little cold. After all, you and Eren _have_ been dating for six months, haven't you?" 

Levi shot a sharp glare the blond's way but Armin simply smiled brightly and laughed. He'd finally removed those thick glasses he'd been wearing the first time he'd been introduced to Levi and the raven could tell that Armin knew far more than he was telling; he could see it in the cunning little glint of his too blue eyes. 

"Must have slipped Eren's mind." Levi commented dryly. 

"Must have," Armin hummed back, amusement coloring his tone. "Don't worry, Levi. I won't tell anyone, but, I am very curious as to _why_ you and Eren are going through so much risk and trouble when I know for a fact you two clearly aren't involved that way." 

In a brief moment of defensive anger, Levi scowled at the blond who was still smiling brightly at him but with a calculated look in his eyes now; as if he were studying Levi and waiting for his reaction. 

"How and why Eren and I are involved with each other is nobody's fucking business, Arlert. Let's get that straight right now." 

"Oh, but I'm afraid Eren's mother and friends won't see it that way at all. You can't fool me, Levi. I've been Eren's best friend since we were six. I know everything there is to know about him and I talk to him frequently enough to know that he wasn't romantically involved with his Boss of the last three years last week when we skyped. So, how about we both be a little more honest with each other from this point on? I'm on your side, after all." 

Levi frowned, "... I wasn't aware there _were_ any sides and even if there were, what makes you think I'd care if anyone was on my side or not?"

"I'm only trying to help, Levi. I may look young, but I'm not stupid." Armin's expression turned serious for a brief moment before it was turning into one of empathy and concern. "All I'm saying is, if I can help you guys out with something, I will because Eren's my best friend and if Mrs. Jaeger ever found out about... whatever this is going on between you and Eren, she'll be heartbroken and I don't want that." 

"Tch, and you think I do, coconut head?" the raven snapped before he remembered where he was and he quickly reigned in his temper. "Fine, whatever, I'll keep that in mind. At least this makes you one less person I have to put an act on for." 

This seemed to lift Armin's spirits, "Exactly! So, care to give me a rundown on what's going on? You don't have to go into details or anything but a basic synopsis will do." 

Levi couldn't help but give an annoyed huff of air as he regarded the eager look on Armin's face. The blond was clearly enjoying this just a little too much, if Levi had to guess. 

"Obviously we're not really dating," Levi grumbled. "But we have to pretend that we are or else both of ours jobs are on the line. That's about it." 

"Huh?" Armin squeaked, crinkling his pudgy little upturned nose and staring at Levi in confusion; he reminded the man of an adorable gerbil in that moment. "Why would you both need to date in order to save your jobs? I don't understand." 

"You said no details, Arlert. That's all I'm giving you." 

Suddenly, the sound of Eren's hissing something a little too loudly in German caught both Armin and Levi's attention and the pair were immediately snapping their heads in Eren's direction where he was looking a little red-faced and if Levi had to guess, the veins in his neck were probably throbbing. 

"Oh," the blond said quietly. "That does not sound good at all." 

"Eren, _Hast Du nicht mehr alle Tassen im Schrank?!_ " came Grisha's sharp tone. 

" _Mich!?_ Dad--" 

And then their voices dipped back into that quiet conspiratorial tone once more and Levi was left completely clueless as to what was said and what happened. He supposed it was just a good thing he hadn't heard his name pop up yet. Small miracles. 

"Yep, definitely not good." Armin murmured, looking extremely worried, though whether he was more worried for Eren or the Good Doctor, Levi couldn't exactly tell. 

"What did they say?" Levi asked, unable to resist the curiosity that ate away at him. 

"Mmm... Well, Dr. Jaeger is asking Eren if he's lost his mind and Eren's just being Eren and arguing that no, he definitely hasn't." 

Despite the anxiety building in his chest, Levi snorted a quiet laugh. "Yeah," he said. "Sounds like Eren, alright."

More harsh whispering was heard carrying in from the kitchen, and most people in the sitting room looked slightly uncomfortable being unsuspecting third parties to whatever argument was happening in the kitchen but most tried to politely pretend like they'd heard nothing at all. Then, 

" _Ist mir doch scheissegal!_ " ( _I don't give a shit!_ ) Eren shouted back just before he started back toward where Levi and Armin were standing near a fireplace. 

The completely open look of anger, frustration and hurt on his face reminded Levi just how unguarded Eren was when it came to his own feelings; the complete opposite of him, it seemed. Eren had never been very good at hiding his emotions, which was why it was always so easy for Levi to tell when his assistant was lying to him or acting strangely. 

" _Alles in Ordnung?_ " ( _Everything alright?_ )Armin suddenly asked, stepping toward Eren first and running a comforting hand down the brunet's arm. Levi tried not to stare at the familiarity of the touch. 

"No." Was Eren's blunt response to whatever Armin had asked him, although Levi had a vague idea what it was. "He's just so... I just-- _Ich bekomme so einen Hals wenn ich das höre! Ich bin einfach abgedreht._ " ( _I get so angry when I hear this stuff! I just lost it._ ) 

The blond nodded sympathetically, " _Einfach tief einatmen._ " ( _Just take a deep breath._ )

Levi suddenly felt a little out of place and like maybe he shouldn't be witness to such a... personal issue. He wasn't used to seeing Eren get this upset about anything in the three years he'd known the younger man, so to say that the raven was uncomfortable with this new situation would be a complete understatement. He simply went about sipping his water and occasionally sparing a jaded glance around the room at all the other party goers who were all eating instead of drinking which Levi thought was odd. Weren't big parties supposed to be all about getting pissed? He didn't see a single person with anything that even resembled beer or alcohol. 

"Eren," Carla Jaeger rushed up to her son, cupping his face and smoothing down some of his unruly chestnut brown hair. "What happened? I heard shouting and then your father stormed out without saying a word." 

The brunet gently batted away his mother's fussing hands but he quickly remedied this by grabbing both of her hands in his larger ones and staring down at her with a hopeful searching expression. 

"Good, it's probably better that Dad isn't here for what I'm about to tell you and everyone else, Mutti." 

Carla and Armin exchanged questioning looks with one another before Carla prompted Eren to continued, "Go on, my love. What is it?" 

Bright teal eyes searched out Levi next and they found the raven staring up at Eren with his usual indifference while casually taking sip after sip of his water. It was probably obvious to Eren that Levi was clearly nervous about something, but as to what, even Levi didn't know. He just felt an impending sense of doom creeping up on him as he continued to anxiously drink his water that was nearly finished. 

"Mom... Levi and I are engaged." 

And that was the moment the water Levi was drinking decided to take a turn down his windpipe instead of his esophagus and the older man was immediately going into a coughing fit while Eren's mother and Armin both simultaneously cried out a surprised shout of "What!?" 

Armin recovered from the shock much quicker than Carla Jaeger did and he was soon patting Levi on the back and helping him catch his breath while Carla suddenly pulled Eren into a tight hug and was all but sobbing tears of joy into the crook of his neck. Levi couldn't say he returned the sentiment in that moment. 

"Oh, mein Sonnenschein! Why didn't you tell me this sooner!?" 

"Yes," Armin grumbled under his breath. "Why indeed."

"Everyone, may I have your attention, please!" Eren raised his voice once Carla had stopped clinging to his neck and crying. " _Entschuldigen Sie!_ " ( _Excuse me!_ ) 

Levi recovered from his coughing fit, but not fast enough for him to prepare for the massive hug Carla enveloped him in once she had the chance. The raven was completely and utterly engulfed in the older woman's warm hug and it did nothing for his self-esteem to know that Eren's mother was a couple of inches taller than him. 

"I'm so happy." Carla sniffled, and Levi did his best not to cringe at the idea that Eren's mother was probably getting snot and tears on him. That shouldn't exactly be the worrying thing here at all, but, well, Levi had his priorities. "We really will be family now!" 

As Levi awkwardly hugged Carla back, which was really less of a hug and more of a stiff embrace and an odd pat on her shoulder, the raven couldn't help but glare daggers at the back of his assistant's head as Eren spoke in German to the rest of the crowded sitting room. Then, he was translating to english. 

"I would just like to announce that Levi and I are engaged." he said with a tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes as he took a step closer to his 'Fiance' before wrapping an arm around Levi's waist. 

Levi stiffened up noticeably but Eren didn't seem to care that he might have been overstepping a boundary by suddenly acting so touchy-feely with his boss. 

There were mixed shouts of what Levi assumed was Congratulations in German while other people seemed just the slightest bit confused at this announcement. Understandably, the confusion was mostly from older people who were probably wondering why two men getting engaged to one another was something worth congratulating. 

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing, Jaeger? This was _not_ part of the plan." Levi hissed quietly, voice still a bit rough from nearly choking to death.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just-- just go with it? It's too late to take it back now." the brunet whispered back.

The raven opened his mouth to hiss out a threat of some kind but it never came as suddenly a rather noisy group entered the sitting room like one giant body and it parted the sea of people that blocked their way straight to Eren and Levi. 

" _Na_ , Eren!" a deep voice bellowed across the room before a burly blond with muscles biceps thicker than Levi's calves headed the giant group of what looked to be a bunch of kids all around Eren and Armin's age. 

" _Naaa,_ Reiner!" Eren greeted back with genuine cheer in his tone as he finally separated from a very stiff Levi who tried to recollect his cool, indifference demeanor while tugging slightly at the collar of his turtleneck. 

Greeting and hugs were exchanged all throughout the group and Levi was just doing his best to keep any and all attention off and away from him. He had only just met Eren's family three short hours ago, but he already felt like it had been ages since he'd last seen New York City and his own apartment. But, of course, Eren wasn't going to let Levi have his way. 

"So, what's all this we're hearing about an engagement? You and Annie finally tying the knot, man?" the muscle-headed blond asked, waggling his near nonexistent eyebrows toward Levi's assistant who seemed to slightly bristle at the jest. 

"Reiner," a tall brunet whom Levi promptly ignored looked very much like a sweaty bean pole warned the blond. Seriously, this kid was like 90% leg. "Cut it out." 

"Nah, it's fine, Bert." Eren addressed while sheepishly scratching at the back of his neck, which Levi already knew was another one of Eren's nervous ticks. "I'm engaged to my boss, Levi." 

Levi sucked his teeth quietly in a quiet show of disapproval before Eren turned and beckoned him forward. The older man did with great reluctance, because, honestly, this was all such unnecessary bullshit. If only Eren could have kept his big fat mouth shut, Levi could have managed a semi-peaceful weekend dodging and avoiding the good Doctor Jaeger and his sweet wife-- but, no, Eren just had to take that away from him. 

"Levi, this is my cousin Bertholdt and his partner Reiner Braun." the brunet introduced. "This is my boss, Levi Ackerman." 

"Hey, man. Nice to finally meet you. We've heard Armin mention you." Reiner smiled, thrusting a big meaty hand out for Levi to shake. 

The raven simply stared down at the offending appendage before he locked gazes with Reiner's honey brown's and inclined his head slightly. 

"Yes, well, the pleasure is all mine." came his sarcastic greeting.

Reiner didn't seem at all put off by Levi's cold brush off, but Bertholdt on the other hand looked about ready to shit his pants anytime he made any sort of eye contact with Levi. That was fine, because if Levi were honest, he didn't much care for staring at all that sweat beading on Bert's forehead. At least Reiner and Bert weren't being dicks and talking shit about him in German.

"Ah, I almost forgot, Sasha and Connie are around here somewhere too. Annie... actually, I didn't see her anywhere." Bert said fidgeting with his hands nervously. 

"EREN!" a muffled voice said from behind Reiner and Bert. Levi was almost startled at the miniature Hanji that suddenly burst through the group of young adults and thrust herself at his assistant, cheeks puffed up and crumbs littering her face. "You're engaged!? CONGRATULATIONS!! Who's the lucky girl?"

The brunet exchanged a pained look with Reiner and Bert before he awkwardly hugged the girl back and ruffled the top of her already messy rust-brown hair. Then, he cleared his throat a took a step back so that he was side by side with Levi. Eren slipped his hand into Levi's so easily, it was almost scary. This was way more touching than Levi ever bargained for when they first started this whole fake engagement thing. 

"Um, well, _this_ is my Fiance, Sash. Levi, my little cousin, Sasha; Sasha, this is Levi." 

Big brown eyes blinked owlishly at Levi as the girl chewed whatever was still stuffed in her mouth and it took her a moment to swallow and wiped away the crumbs she had around her mouth with the back of her hand before she was grinning widely and thrusting a grubby hand out for Levi to shake. Well, at least she didn't try to run at him and hug him like she'd done to Eren. Levi wasn't so sure he'd be able to avoid keep up his act of keeping his cool when underneath his indifferent demeanor he was just itching to get the hell out of here and lock himself up in his room for the remainder of the afternoon. 

"Well, nice to meet you, Levi. Since we're gonna be family, you can just call me Sash! Everyone does!" the girl said cheerfully. 

Luckily, someone else joining in the conversation saved Levi from having to repeat his icy brush off of another handshake and the raven couldn't have been more grateful. 

"God damn it, Sasha! I told you to wait until after dinner to eat the chocolate forest cake!" A rather short kid with hair cropped close to his head chided as he elbowed his way through the crowd of people. "And don't act like you weren't the one who took a big chunk out of the side! I can see the chocolate all over your face!" 

"But, Con-Bon! It was just a little piece!" Sasha whined flashing big watery puppy eyes at the kid who blushed. 

"... Small piece my ass." he grumbled. "Whatever! Don't come crying to me when your aunt Carla yells at you for eating dessert before dinner again." 

The group of youths all seemed to get a laugh out of this hilarious exchange, but of course, Levi kept his stern and unflappable expression in place and sighed heavily through his nose; He'd had just about enough socializing for one afternoon. 

"Hey, Connie. What's good, man?" Eren exchanged an odd sort of hand shake with the short buzz-cut kid. "Sasha keeping you on your toes?" 

"And then some." Connie laughed. "Two years of marriage and I'm still not used to her insane appetite. But I love her anyway, man." 

"Let's not factor how her appetite will triple once she gets pregnant." Reiner snorted with a knowing look Connie's way. 

The shorter male paled suddenly, "Please don't scare me even more than I already am. I don't even wanna think about kids right now. I'm barely making enough money to support Sasha and her three stomachs." 

"Alright, no more scaring Connie, guys." Eren smirked, patting his shorter friend on the shoulder consolingly. 

"Hey," Reiner suddenly piped up. "I just got a really good idea." 

"Oh, no." Connie and Eren groaned in unison. Levi couldn't really bring himself to care. 

"Oh, yes!" the blond barked out a laugh before he was moving between Eren and Levi and clasping both of them hard on the back. Levi luckily didn't suffer the same fate of stumbling forward a few steps into a chair like Eren did, but that probably had to do with the fact that Levi was a lot heavier in body mass. At least, that's what he assumed saved him from suffering that fate. "We're gonna throw you guys an impromptu engagement party!" 

Levi felt his formerly forgotten anxiety spike to an all time high as he heard the word 'Party' and he turned a dark glare Eren's way. The brunet seemed to be just as reluctant to this idea as Levi was. Good; that means Levi wouldn't have to beat it into him that he did not fucking do parties. 

"Uhm, I don't know, Reiner. That's not really necessary." Eren tried to explain. 

"Dude, come on! How many times do you get engaged in one lifetime? Hopefully only the one time, so, make it count, man! We're doing this! Plenty of good food and booze to go around and good music! It'll be just like college when we used to get pissed out on your parent's deck around the fire pit." 

"That's what I'm afraid of..." Levi's assistant chuckled nervously while shooting Levi apologetic looks. 

The raven simply rolled his eyes and resigned to being doomed to spend even more time in the presence of all these brats. Bert seemed to read that Levi wasn't exactly a fan of this arrangement either and he shot Levi a sheepish smile. 

"Do whatever you want." The older man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and massaging it in a way that reminded him a bit too much of Erwin. 

"Perfect!" Reiner grinned, removing his massive hand from Levi's shoulder and moving back so that he was once again side by side with his partner. "We'll do it here at your place tomorrow night. Sound good, Mrs. J?"

Carla, who had been chatting casually with another older woman, perked up at the mention of her nickname and without much thought, she smiled knowingly. 

"What kind of mother would I be if I denied my only son his first engagement party? Of course it's fine with us. Just remember the house rules, Reiner."

The blond in question shot her a cheeky smile, "But of course, Mrs. J. We're all responsible adults here." 

"Hmm." Was Carla's unconvinced response. Then, the brunette was coming up on Levi's side and touching a hand to his cheek in concern. "What's wrong, _Mäuschen_? You pale? Are you feeling unwell?" she asked with so much genuine concern in her tone, Levi almost felt guilty for worrying her. 

"Ah," He said, for lack of anything else to answer with. "Jet lag, probably." Levi lied smoothly.

"Levi's not good with planes, Mom." Eren explained, taking up the empty space Reiner had left next to Levi. The warmth radiating off of Eren was almost enough to ease the anxious knot in Levi's stomach; almost. 

"Oh, well, then maybe you should go up to your room and rest for the rest of the evening, Ja?" 

"Thank you, Carla. I think I will." And Levi gave her a tiny little genuine smile because that was the first time someone had suggested something Levi actually _wanted_ to do since he landed here and really, Levi just wanted to have a little R &R before having to deal with more of Eren's friends and family tomorrow. 

"Eren, make sure he gets back to his room." 

Levi felt a bit like an infant child who was being passed around for care but didn't really want to linger much on that thought and quickly shook it off before he was being led back through the large house toward the stairs where he'd first gone up after being covered in mud. 

Much like earlier, Eren walked side by side up the stairs with Levi who was silent the whole flight up. Eren was also suspiciously quiet, but Levi figured that would change as soon as they were alone together in Levi's room. Sometimes, Levi hated being right all the time. 

As soon as they arrived in the peaceful quiet of Levi's bedroom, Eren had shut the door behind them and leaned against it heavily with a sigh. Levi on the other hand was quick to sit on the bed and run a hand through his hair. 

"Um, sorry about all that... I'm sure you're probably pissed at me." 

Levi took a moment to take in the completely ashamed looking twenty-six-year-old who stared down at his own shoes with a frown and he couldn't help but sigh. He wasn't really up for giving Eren a tongue lashing at the moment, probably due to the growing headache he was getting; exhaustion finally spreading through his body and making his eyes feel heavy with sleep. 

"Just... warn a guy next time." Levi grumbled, kicking off his boots and flopping backwards onto the bed. 

He heard a wry snort from Eren and then the sound of shuffling feet around the room. "You mean like how you warned me when you suddenly announced that we were engaged in front of all your bosses? Yeah, okay. Gotcha." 

Levi simply flipped Eren the bird and allowed his arm to flop down over his own stomach while his other arm covered his eyes from the recessed lighting on the ceiling. The raven could already feel sleep taking him. 

"Hey," He heard Eren say from somewhere nearby. "You sure you're gonna be okay? I'm concerned about those pills you took." 

"What's this?" Levi scoffed. "Eren Jaeger concerned for my well-being? Someone call the New York Times." 

"Why is that such a surprise?" Eren's voice asked, and Levi didn't even _have_ to look to just _hear_ the obvious frown Eren no doubt had on his face. "I'm a human being; naturally, I'd be worried about someone who took so many questionable pills while drinking copious amounts of alcohol during a plane ride." 

The raven lying flat on the bed with his legs bent over the side said nothing to that, instead, choosing to let those words sink in as he swallowed thickly. He was getting just a little sick and tired of Eren and Carla always _caring_ so much all the time. It was exhausting. 

Then, there was a set of gentle knocks on the door before Carla's sweet voice warned them that she was coming in. Levi had to wonder what the woman thought he and Eren were possibly doing in a room alone together that she felt she needed to give them a warning before she entered. Making out? Having Sex? Probably both. 

"Eren, I brought you and Levi some extra pillows and blankets. You know it tends to get a little chilly in the house at night, love."

At her words, Levi's eyes snapped open and he immediately sat up from the bed and shot Eren a dark look. The brunet squeaked from his spot standing at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed tightly over his chest and he was quickly stumbling over words to try and explain something to his mother. 

"Uh, Mutti, I wasn't really planning on sleeping in the same room--"

"Eren Michael Jaeger," Carla snapped, settling a fierce glare on her son who looked rightfully cowed by her tone. Fuck, even Levi felt like he'd just been reprimanded and he wasn't even the one who got the First name/Middle name/Last name treatment. "Do I look like I was born yesterday?" 

"Mutti--" 

"Nein!" she raised her voice, silencing any protests Eren might have had ready on the tip of his tongue. "I don't want to hear it. I'm old enough to know what happens between two people who love each other and I know you are not so innocent, my love." she ended that thought with a lovingly pat to Eren's cheek while the brunet blushed and simply gaped at his mother as Carla swept into the room and set the blankets and pillows down next to Levi's sitting form. 

Then, she leaned down toward him and used one hand to brush back some of Levi's fringe before pressing her forehead against his while closing her eyes. Levi had once again gone completely stiff, but didn't pull away from the contact either. He was slowly getting used to Carla just touching him however she wanted, whenever she wanted. He supposed it was just a mom thing. 

"Mm, you feel a little warm, _Mäuschen_. Are you sure you're not unwell?" 

Levi cleared his throat awkwardly when Carla pulled away from him, "Um, no. I'm fine, really, Mrs. Jae--" catching himself and noticing the raised eyebrow Carla shot him, he quickly fixed his mistake. "Ah, Carla." 

She smiled widely, reminding Levi so much of his young assistant who was standing off to the side and looking almost as though he were sulking about something. _'Cute'_ he thought to himself... and then immediately backtracked and pushed that thought far, far, FAR away from him. He refused to touch that shit with a ten-foot pole. 

"Well, get some rest, _Mäuschen_. I need to borrow Eren for a little while longer since this party downstairs is in his honor, but I'll return him to you soon, ja?" the older woman winked at him before she straightened up and walked toward the door to show herself out. Not before saying something sternly to Eren in German, of course, but then she was finally gone and they were alone again.

Levi glared at his assistant for one long moment while the brunet fidgeted a bit under his scrutiny. He seemed determined not to meet Levi's glare with one of his own, instead, choosing to glare a hole through the hardwood floors beneath his feet. Finally, after a full minute passed in silence, Eren let out a frustrated growl and threw his hands up in defeat. 

"I know, I know! I'm sleeping on the floor! Damn!" he cursed before he too left the room and finally-- FINALLY! Levi was alone and bathed in silence with only the occasional sound of laughter and chatter carrying in from downstairs. 

Levi sighed, flopped back onto the bed and rolled over until he was burying his face into the soft, clean duvet and let out a quiet string of his own curses in french and english. As if things weren't bad enough, now he was going to have to share a room with Eren and Levi was not at all happy about it. 

This was going to be a _long_ fucking weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rejoice, peasants! For I have updated this fic twice in one week! -evil laughter- 
> 
> I actually didn't think I'd ever get around to finishing this since it was also getting a bit long, but, look at that! I FINISHED IT! 
> 
> I'm actually more excited for the next couple of chapters than anything else. I have them already plotted out in my head but, you know how these fictional assholes just LOVE to hijack my shit. Hopefully that won't be the case this time. 
> 
> Yay, for Carla showering our short grump with affection and motherly love!! :'D Freckled Jesus knows he needs it! T u T


	6. This Mask is Running Thin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So excited for this chapter!!! Chapter title is from **On My Own by Amber [F(x)]**.
> 
> This chapter is absolutely MASSIVE, and it took me a few days to write it up but here it is. A lot of stuff is happening, but ENJOY ALL THE ERERI! 
> 
> P.S. My wonderful Waifu Paula helped me out A TON with planning the next couple of chapters out. THANK YOU, SWEET PEA. I'd be lost without your beautiful brain!

Levi awoke very early the next morning. He knew it was early, because it was still dark outside with only the faintest smattering of stars in the sky and a smear of dull pink and orange off in the distance showing the the sun had yet to fully breach the Horizon. 

He sat up in the giant bed and just stayed there staring into the dark because the room was absolutely pitch black aside from the slowly lightening sky from the windows, but he also sort of had to remember the fact that his Assistant was sleeping no less than ten feet away from him on a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor. 

Yesterday's events came back to him in bits and pieces and Levi almost groaned out loud when he remembered what a disaster the rest of this trip was sure to be now that Eren had told everyone in his entire fucking village that they were engaged. 

Then, Levi seemed to recall something. After he retired to what he now knew was Eren's old bedroom for the rest of the evening, he vaguely remembered hearing what sounded like an argument coming from somewhere downstairs that was unmistakably between Eren and his father. Levi had been dozing in and out of sleep by then, so he wasn't entirely sure how long that argument lasted, but by the time Eren had come to the room, Levi had shed all his clothes - save his underwear - and was cocooned in the duvet of the bed. 

Whatever happened after that, Levi would not be able to tell you as he had finally succumbed to sleep. Surprisingly, even to the man himself, Levi had slept through the whole night without once waking up and fighting a fit of insomnia. He hadn't slept that well since... well, he'd rather not go down that train of thought so early in the morning. 

Scrubbing at his face a bit, Levi finally decided it was better for him to get up before Eren did and try to squeeze in an early morning shower. Then, he'd see about finding and making himself a nice cup of tea. 

With careful movements, Levi unwrapped himself from the warm cocoon of blankets he'd been wrapped up in for most of the night and a shiver ran up his spine at the chill in the early morning air. Eren's mother hadn't been lying when she said it tended to get cold in the house at night. It took all of Levi's willpower not to hiss out a curse when his bare feet touched the hardwood; but in a way, it was a nice jolt to his sleep addled brain. 

He skirted around what he assumed was Eren's form all spread out by the foot of the bed, and when he thought he was home-free, Levi scaled the wall where he knew the door to the bathroom was. He slipped inside the dark room, shut the door and then flipped the light switch. For a moment, he had to quietly curse at the bright fluorescent lighting that assaulted his bleary vision. Finally, when his eyes adjusted, Levi turned on the cold water and splashed his face a bit, at least before realizing he hadn't exactly thought this plan through; he'd forgotten to fucking bring in a fresh set of clothes with him. Fantastic. 

Levi stared at his reflection in the vanity mirror and noted his sleep mussed hair and all the cowlicks that stood up in the back. Then grey eyes studied the bags under his eyes that were surprisingly less pronounced, probably thanks to the semi-coma he'd slipped into yesterday evening. Levi guessed he must have gotten at least twelve hours of sleep, which was more sleep than he'd usually get in a week. 

Then, his eyes finally started tracing the delicate ink that started from his neck and elegantly swirled down toward his shoulders and finally ending with a curl around his biceps. The three pale pink magnolia's tattooed on each shoulder made Levi's heart clench painfully each time he saw them, yet he never could force himself to hate them. They were a reminder of what he'd lost; as was the Tree Swallow tattooed on the side of his left rib cage with it's wings spread upward and the french quote scrawled across his left collar bone in elegant black script. Each piece of body art was a reminder that never failed to ground Levi when he was feeling at his worst, which, admittedly was more often than anyone would ever think. 

Forcing himself to look away from painful reminders of his past, Levi straightened up from his position leaning over the sink and cracked the door to the bathroom open just to check and make sure Eren wasn't awake. It wasn't like Levi was self-conscious about his body, but his tattoos were for his eyes only and he preferred to keep it that way. They were _his_ reminders and _his_ crosses to bear and he didn't need anyone else learning of them and questioning their meanings and all that fucking bullshit. 

Levi peeked out into the blackness of the bedroom and was grateful for the tiny sliver of fluorescent lighting that illuminated mostly the bed where Eren was still sleeping on the floor near the foot of. With a little sigh of relief through his nose, Levi opened the door just to the point where he could slip past it and creep back into the room to look for his suitcase. He once again skirted around Eren's sprawled form and Levi had to stop and just roll his eyes at the completely open and vulnerable position Eren was sleeping in. 

The brunet had both arms and legs fanned out like he was making snow angels and he was flat on his back with his mouth slightly open and soft snores filling the air. Levi found the sound not all that terrible, compared to others he'd heard before. At least Eren didn't sound like a fucking hibernating bear. 

Finding his suitcase with ease, Levi quietly unzipped it, blindly grabbed the first turtleneck he could and his shaving kit along with a pair of pants and fresh boxer-briefs and then he was skirting his way past Eren once more before locking himself up safely in the bathroom. In what was probably record time for him, Levi had showered, shaved and changed into his fresh clothes. Stepping out of the steamy bathroom, Levi noticed the sun was finally starting to peek over the horizon by now and any traces of night stars were slowly fading into the brightening sky. 

Eren had changed positions so that he was now lying flat on his stomach with one of his own hands trapped underneath his body and Levi snorted. No doubt, Eren was probably going to wake up with a numb arm. 

Levi quietly made his way out of the bedroom, but then he hesitated in the outside hallway; because while he knew how to get to the staircase that led downstairs, he didn't really know exactly where the kitchen was. Sure, Eren had led him there yesterday but Levi hadn't exactly been paying much attention. He just knew that it was joined with the front sitting room... which was... fuck knew where it was. 

Resigning himself to at least a few minutes of wandering, Levi started down the hallway and was just glad that he seemed to find the staircase with no problems. Luckily-- or unluckily, depends on how one saw this situation -- Levi caught the scent of fresh coffee being brewed from somewhere and he let his nose follow the scent until it got stronger and stronger. Miraculously, Levi found himself standing outside a vaguely familiar kitchen and there at the stove stood Carla Jaeger with her slightly mussed hair tied back and up into a messy sort of bun. Aside from her messy bedhead, Carla was already dressed and ready for the day in a pair of comfortably worn jeans that were not too tight and not too loose but very age appropriate for a woman's of Carla's age. 

She was also wearing a plain sun yellow t-shirt paired with a lovely white crochet wrap. Overall, Carla Jaeger looked very comfortable but still classy. Her clothes showed off her still girlish figure without making it seem like she was trying too hard to dress a younger way. Levi could definitely appreciate this; also, he was just glad it was Carla in the kitchen and not her surly husband. 

The brunette had her back facing to Levi, so she couldn't see him as he entered the kitchen. Levi remedied this by clearing his throat loudly enough so that Carla was made aware of his presence and he didn't startle the woman giving her a heart attack-- knock on fucking wood. 

"Oh, Levi!" Carla chirped. Levi could tell she was obviously a morning person. " _Guten Morgen, Mäuschen._ " ( _Good Morning, Little mouse._ )

The raven gave her a polite incline of his head, "Good Morning." 

"Have a seat there," she pointed out a stool at the granite island with a jerk of her chin. "I just sent Grisha off to work." Carla winked one beautiful honey gold eye before she turned back to work on whatever it was she was cooking. It smelled heavenly, Levi would admit. "Is my lazy son not up yet?" 

Carla's question slightly startled Levi, "... I'm afraid not."

"That's alright," she said, never looking away from her task. "At least I know you'll be a good influence on him from now on, Levi. You are an early riser, ja?" 

"Yes, but not by choice." 

"Oh? Why is that, Mäuschen?" 

It was then that Carla turned off the stove and moved to grab a plate before transferring whatever it was she was cooking in the pan onto the porcelain. Turns out, Levi noted with some mild amusement on his part, she was frying sausages. Though as to what kind they were, don't ask him; Levi didn't know his Kielbasa from his Bratwurst. Carla regarded him with a very familiar disarming smile that had him clearing his throat again. 

"... I suffer from Chronic Insomnia." 

Now, how the fuck had this woman just gotten him to admit to something so personal like that so fucking quickly? Levi never even talked about his insomnia to his two closest friends who he's known for _years_ and yet he was openly telling the mother of his Assistant who he's known for a total of 24-hours. 

"Oh, dear!" Carla gasped, rounding the kitchen counter and taking Levi's face in her hands as she checked him over with big concerned doe eyes that only reminded him of a certain teal-eyed brat who worked for him. "Were you able to get some rest last night? Eren didn't keep you awake, did he? I've always told that boy, he's got too much energy!"

Levi just had to take a moment to stare up in confusion at Eren's sweet, sweet mother because he honestly had no idea what she could be implying. Why would Eren keep him awake? The brat knew better than to try and... and... _Oh_. Realization hit Levi like a smack to the head and he felt his cheeks flush despite himself. 

"Um..." the raven cleared his suddenly dry throat loudly. "N-No. Not at all." Did he just fucking stutter? Levi Ackerman didn't _stutter_. 

A mischievous glint made itself known in Carla's warm eyes and then she was tutting at Levi's answer. If only Levi could assure Eren's mother that he was most definitely not fucking her son in any way or form without blowing their cover. Would she believe him if he lied and told her he was still a virgin? Probably not, but Levi was willing to say anything at this point.

"Alright, if you say so. I'm just happy to know that you got some sleep, yes?" the brunette asked, a slight furrow between her brows as she gently brushed some of Levi's fringe out of his eyes.

There was that odd sort of warmth in Levi's chest again; something akin to fondness, perhaps. He reached up and lightly wrapped one of his hands around Carla's delicate wrist successfully removing it as he nodded his head and flashed her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Levi couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was like to have a mother to fuss over you for any little reason, and if it was, then Levi was grateful for Carla Jaeger giving him even just an inkling of that feeling. 

"Yes, I did, actually. Probably the best sleep I've had in some years." He answered softly.

Carla seemed pleased with this answer and before Levi could anticipate it, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead before stepping back. The raven would forever refuse to accept the fact that he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. The Jaeger's clearly had no sense of personal boundaries, it seemed. 

"Good. Now, would you like some Coffee, Mäuschen?" 

Mrs. Jaeger busied herself with getting some mugs out from a top cabinet shelf before she gave them a quick rinse in the sink. Levi quickly collected himself and opened his mouth to politely refuse the offer of coffee, but a sleep-rough voice beat him to the punch. 

"He can't have coffee. It gives him heart palpitations." Eren said as he strolled into the kitchen looking a right mess with his hair sticking up in all directions. Levi tried to ignore how nice Eren's voice sounded after he'd just woken up. That was not a thought he needed to have about his fucking assistant who was six years his junior. 

The brunet was wearing a loose olive green t-shirt and baggy grey sweats and Levi frowned at the wrinkled state of his clothing. Clearly, Eren wasn't the type to immediately start getting ready for the day as soon as he woke up. Levi should have known better, seeing as how Eren was more often times than not nearly late coming into work. 

" _Guten Morgen, Sonnenschein._ " Carla greeted with a wry expression, no doubt, at the disheveled state of her only child. 

"'Mornin, Mutti." Came Eren's sleepy reply through a yawn. Then he was coming up behind his mother and wrapping both arms around her tightly as he kissed her cheek. 

It was really just a sneaky tactic to steal one of the sausages Carla had left cooling on the plate, which Levi quickly noticed when he saw one of Eren's hands snatch up a sausage and then pop it in his mouth while Carla was distracted. 

"Eren," Carla gasped. "You don't deserve any breakfast since you slept later than anyone! Poor Levi has been sitting her alone with me because you were still sleeping. Lazy boy!"

The brunet shrugged a shoulder before he reached up into a cupboard and brought out a tea kettle to no doubt heat some water for Levi's morning tea. The older man tried not to stare at the little glimpse of Eren's bare hipbones when he reached up, his t-shirt sliding up with his body and his baggy sweat pants hanging low. No, Levi scolded himself, he would _not_ be drawn in by all that smooth, tan skin and lean muscle. 

"As Eren's Grandmother used to say," Carla thankfully distracted him from any further inappropriate thoughts regarding her son. " _Morgen, morgen nur nicht heute ,sagen alle faulen Leute._ " ( _Tomorrow, tomorrow but not today, say all lazy people._ )

At this, Levi heard Eren bark out a laugh as he filled the kettle with water from the filter on the tap and set it on the flame of the stove. 

"Yes, she did used to say that, but Grandfather used to say _Faulheit stärkt die Glieder_." ( _Laziness is good for the bones._ )

Levi, at this point, was completely used to being lost when it came to Eren speaking german with his friends and family. It was just something he would have to put up with this weekend.

"Oh, honestly, Levi. I wish you luck with my son after you're married. I'm saying this right now-- All sales are final! No returns!" Carla shook her head playfully. 

Eren and Levi accidentally ended up making eye contact after that and they both ended up looking away feeling uncomfortable. Then, the brunet was removing the tea kettle from it's spot on the stove and he was pouring it into a rather large mug that Levi hadn't noticed already had a tea bag in. His view of watching Eren prepare his tea was obscured by the brunet himself as Eren moved his body so that he was blocking Levi's line of vision from the mug of tea. 

"Mutti, do you think I could borrow the truck?" Eren thankfully changed the subject as he left Levi's cup of tea alone to sit while he prepared a cup of coffee for himself. 

"Ja, but what for, Sonnenschein?" Came Carla's distracted voice as she dug around in the fridge for something. 

"One of Levi's suitcases is missing, so we have to drive back to see if it was left at the airport and if it's not there then we'll probably have to file a claim." 

The brunet picked up his own steaming mug of coffee before he grabbed Levi's tea by the handle and carried both hot drinks over to the island where Levi was still sitting silently. 

"Oh, dear." Eren's mother worried. "Of course you can borrow the truck, Sonnenschein. I hope there wasn't anything important or valuable in your suitcase, Levi." 

Caught slightly off-guard by Carla's sudden inquiry, the raven was just about to raise his cup to his lips to take a sip of the tea he'd been craving since fuck know's how long so that he could answer her. 

"Um, well, it was mostly just filled with extra clothes and things for personal care."

"Mm," Carla hummed, nodding her head in understanding before she went back about her business of rummaging around in her own fridge. 

Finally, Levi was free to drink his cooling tea and he took his first deliberate sip with great pleasure before realizing that Eren had even brewed his favorite type of black tea; Earl Grey. The hints of lavender and the two spoonfuls of sugar all blended together for Levi's perfect cup of tea and it was like a mouthful of heaven with each drink he took. Before long, Levi was nearly half finished with his cup of tea and he looked up just in time to catch his assistant watching him carefully. 

Levi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the brunet, as if to convey the silent question that was on his mind. _'How did you know what flavor of tea I wanted?'_ and Eren simply shrugged one of his broad shoulders as if to say _'I just knew.'_

When Levi thought about it, it wasn't-- or _shouldn't_ \-- be that surprising that Eren would know what his favorite teas were and prepared them exactly to Levi's preference; No milk in his Earl Grey, just black with a small amount of sugar. When asked why Levi didn't like milk with his tea, he would always say he thought adding milk to a perfectly delicious cup of earl grey ruined it. 

"I'll make you boys some breakfast before you leave. You should go and get ready, Sonnenschein. Don't keep Levi waiting." 

Eren polished off what was left of his coffee and set the dirty mug in the sink before he stepped closer to his mother and kissed her cheek. Levi couldn't help but stare at the single dirty dish in the sink with the same amount of contempt and disdain he would of someone who insulted him. 

"Yes, Mutti." The brunet sang before he was making his great escape out of the kitchen. 

At some point, Levi had stood up from his seat at the kitchen island and carried his own empty mug to the sink. When he got there, he wordlessly started thoroughly washing the two mugs. 

"You don't need to do that, Mäuschen. You're a guest here." Carla chided from the stove sending Levi a disapproving shake of her head. 

"It's fine." Levi replied, focused intensely on his task. "I don't mind helping with the cleaning." 

"Oh, that's right." the older woman chuckled. "Eren mentioned you liked cleanliness." 

"That's an understatement!" Eren's voice said from somewhere in the house. "He's obsessed with it!" 

Levi couldn't hold in the barked order of "Shut up and go shower, Jaeger." which fortunately for him resulted in the sound of something loud thudding on the floor and a small yelp that sounded a lot like Eren and Carla laughing the entire time. 

Once her laughter subsided, Carla looked at Levi for a long moment with a sort of approving look on her face and Levi felt that warmth blossom in his chest once more. Then, Levi along with his fake future mother-in-law continued moving around in the kitchen with Carla cooking up a hearty breakfast for both him and Eren and Levi helping with cleaning up afterwards.

\- X -

"So, what did Miss Hanji have to say?" Eren asked once they were well on the road.

Levi had blanched when he was reminded very kindly by Eren that it was a two hour drive into Berlin from the sleepy little village of Shiganshina. So, without much choice, Levi had gotten about as comfortable as he could in the passenger's seat of Carla's old pick up truck, which admittedly wasn't as bad as he was imagining. 

"Nonsense, that's what." the raven frowned as he sunk a little lower into the worn leather seat while crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Nonsense?" Eren parroted, shooting his boss a skeptical look out of the corner of his eyes. "That was a pretty long phone call, considering." 

"How about," Levi started, straightening up in his seat and reaching for the tuning dial on the car radio. "You keep your nose out of my business, Jaeger." 

Frowning, Eren swatted Levi's hand away from the tuning dial and the raven scowled at him. Oh, hell no, Eren did not just _swat_ his hand away like he was some little kid. 

"Fine," the brunet huffed. "We'll talk about something else." 

"Why do we have to talk _at all_." Levi grumbled. 

"Okay-y-y," Eren drawled. "Then we'll just listen to music. No talking. Happy?" 

"You're still talking." 

With a groan of frustration, Eren jammed his index finger into the play button on the stereo and soon any possibility for conversation was drowned out by the sound of a CD starting to play. At first, Levi wasn't sure what kind of music to expect, although, he supposed he should have known whatever kinds of CD's Carla kept in her car would be a little before his time and in fucking German. 

"Are you shitting me?" Levi finally said after ten minutes of song after song of German folk music. "You put that CD in on purpose, Jaeger." He absolutely refused to believe that Carla Jaeger listened to German Folk music all the time. There just had to be something else. 

Eren flashed a smirk at him without taking his eyes off the rather bumpy dirt road they were currently driving on. It was rather grey and cloudy which was a large contrast to the lush green pastures and the little patches of bright vibrant wildflowers that seemed to thrive on the side of the road. 

"I thought you said you didn't wanna talk." 

"Fuck this," Levi said just as his hand flew to press the eject button. The pristine silver disk popped out of the player and Levi quickly snatched it up and put it back in the center console compartment. "I'd rather listen to the radio then trust you to pick out another CD." 

"But those are the songs of my people!" Eren mock-whined. 

"Shut up," Levi snapped. "I am not listening to German Folk music the whole two hour drive to the fucking airport. I'd sooner strangle myself with my own seat belt than do that."

Eren looked over at his Boss and frowned again, "Why are you always so morbid?" 

"Two and a half years as my assistant and you still aren't used to that shit?" 

"I'm used to it," The brunet mused out loud. "I just don't understand it, that's all." 

Levi snorted but said nothing else on the matter. They settled into a tense and awkward silence for the next few minutes while Eren focused on the road in front of them and Levi fiddled with the tuning dial on the radio. It was mostly static but every once and awhile Levi would catch a clear signal but they were all what Levi assumed was radio talk-shows and, of course, they were all in German. 

Suddenly, Levi passed a station and Eren was shooting his right hand out to place on top of Levi's to stop him from tuning the radio further. 

"Wait, wait! Go back!" Eren said, batting Levi hand away again. The raven was getting really tired of that. 

"The fuck?" Levi muttered as he pulled his hand out from under Eren's and cradled it against his chest as though he'd been burned by the brunet's touch.

"I heard a song I liked..." his assistant mumbled as he fussed with the tuning dial until he got it back on the station Levi had passed. 

Eren grinned widely when Levi shot him an annoyed glare, but the brunet simply ignored his grumpy employer in the passenger's seat as he began singing the lyrics to whatever song was playing on the radio.

_'♪ I'll keep you my dirty little secret (Dirty little secret)  
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret (just another regret)  
Who has to know?' ♪_

Levi watched his assistant completely jamming out to this stupid-as-fuck song with a disgusted curl of his lip because the lyrics were just hitting a little too close to their actual situation right now.

As if Eren could read exactly what Levi was thinking, the brunet turned mid-karaoke session and was about to open his mouth to belt out the next verse when he noticed the dark glower Levi was giving him causing him to shrink a bit in on himself and snap his mouth shut with an audible clack of teeth. 

"You know," Levi said in a tone much too calm and casual. "We wouldn't even _have_ to be going through this shit if you hadn't pulled that stunt yesterday and told your family we were fucking engaged." 

It was probably obvious that Levi was mildly pleased with the way his Assistant's cheeks reddened with shame and embarrassment. Sure, Levi might have put them in their current position by going along with Hanji's outrageous lie, but at least he hadn't been the idiot who fucked up and confirmed their fake engagement to every person who's ever known him just to piss off his Father. 

Sure, Levi did a lot of dumb shit in his life, especially when he was a teenager, but this was just the fuck up to crown all fuck ups if you asked him. 

"Look, I already said I'm sorry. Can we drop it? If I could go back in time and stop myself from doing it, I fucking would." the brunet grumbled, keeping his stare straight ahead of him on the road instead of anywhere near Levi. 

"Fine," The raven acquiesced. 

"Thank you." Eren sighed. 

For lack of anything to do with his hands, Levi began fiddling with the tuning dial on the radio again to hopefully distract himself. 

It was as he was going through radio station after radio station that he heard a very familiar song, and his fingers stopped turning the dial so that it stayed on the slightly static-y station so that he could confirm the song that he thought heard playing. 

The familiar guitar riffs had Levi almost smirking in amusement, but he quickly checked himself back into place before he even allowed a snort to escape him. Instead, he simply retracted his hand so he could cross his arms over his chest. It took all of his willpower not to start bobbing his head along with the painfully familiar beats. [**(X)**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZVwhVTNTo)

_' ♪ Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk?  
I didn't mean to call you that_

_I can't remember what was said or what you threw at me  
Please tell me, please tell me why..._

_My car is in the front yard, and I'm sleepin' with my clothes on,  
I came in through the window last night and you're gone, gone ♪'_

It was bad enough that Levi couldn't stop himself from tapping one of his fingers against his own crossed arm as he listened to a song that completely sent him down memory lane, and he didn't have a doubt in his own mind that if Hanji and Erwin had been here with him, they would have taunted him about the fact that a young teenage version of himself had covered this song one drunken night years ago.

_'♪ It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy  
'Cause every now and then I kick the living shit outta me_

_The smoke alarm is going off and there's a cigarette still burning,  
Please tell me why...♪'_

Levi hadn't noticed that Eren had been silently watching him occasionally whenever he could afford to look away from the road, and there was an odd smirk on his face as Levi continued to force himself to stay as still as possible while a favorite song of his played.

"I never would have pegged you for a guy who liked Alternative music." The brunet finally broke the silence. 

Levi inhaled slowly through his nose and did his best to swallow down any snappy remarks he might have wanted to make about that. 

"And what would you have pegged me to be into?" he asked instead. 

"I don't know," Eren shrugged. "I've never really thought of you as someone who listens to music in general. You're always so serious and no-nonsense in the office. I figured you just sucked the fun out of everything." 

"That's fucking ridiculous, Eren. I'm not a goddamn robot. I'm a human being with emotions too." 

"Good to know," the younger man chuckled. "So, Levi the human being with emotions too. What kind of music _are_ you into?" 

"Why do you care?" Levi scoffed. 

"Oh, come on. We should probably at least _try_ to learn a little bit about each other before the engagement party tonight. You know people are going to ask, and I don't want to look stupid when someone asks me what your favorite song is or who your favorite band is or some shit like that." The brunet turned a rather adorable pout on Levi which only caused him to bat away any thoughts of finding his Assistant cute or adorable in any way. "I'm also curious to know what teenage Levi was like. It's hard to imagine you as any other age than the age you are now." 

The older man snorted, "Do you think I just walked out of the womb a full grown thirty-two-year-old man wearing a fucking suit and carrying a briefcase?" 

This earned a bark of laughter from Eren, "Well, kinda, yeah. This version of you is the only one I've ever known! You can't blame me." 

"I'm not fucking telling you jack shit about myself and what I was like as a teenager. Besides, it's not like us knowing any of this information about each other will matter. Once this whole thing blows over and I have my promotion secured, we're going to say we broke up and then we'll never have to speak about this to anyone ever again." 

The car fell deathly silent after Levi said this, and in retrospect, he probably could have worded that to sound a lot better, but it was the truth. Levi had planned to have he and Eren "break up" once he had gotten a spot on the creative team and that would be the end of the story. For some reason, hearing him say what his plan was out loud made him feel strangely guilty and... wrong.

"Wow," Eren finally spoke. "You've pretty much got this whole thing figured out then, don't you?" 

"Pretty much." Levi agreed, never taking his eyes off the road in front of them. 

He heard Eren make a noise of affirmation before they returned to the tense, awkward silence from before. Levi hated to say it, but he was really starting to get a little annoyed with it. 

"About this party tonight," the raven broke the silence. "... Is there any way to get out of it?" 

It was Eren's turn to snort loudly at Levi's question, "No. Not unless you want my mom guilt tripping you for the rest of this weekend. Don't know if you've noticed, but my mom always gets her way with everything. There's no arguing with her, ever." 

"We won't have to hold hands again, right?" the older man asked, his lip curling up in disgust despite his heart fluttering a bit at the memory of how Eren held his hand the evening before. 

"Probably," Came Eren's unsure response. "I mean, we can't just hold hands and expect everyone to believe we're really a couple just because of that. We'll probably have to be a little more intimate at times." 

"Intimate _how_?" Levi almost growled. 

"You know... like... kissing... and stuff..."

"Ugh," Levi groaned, sinking a little lower into the leather seats to hide his warming cheeks. "I'm tempted to get down on my hands and knees at the airport just to lick the floors. Maybe I'll contract a deadly disease and it'll kill me within the next six hours so I won't have to go to this fucking party." 

"Good luck with that." The brunet said sarcastically with a roll of his vibrant eyes.

\- X -

Two hours later found Levi standing inside the international airport and just seeing all the oceans of people boarding and just stepping off flights had Levi wishing he could just turn around and walk out.

"That's it," The raven said, already moving to kneel down on the floor. "I'm licking the fucking disgusting floor of this airport and contracting a disease. It's the only way." 

Eren quickly grabbed him by his bicep and yanked him back onto his feet, "What the fuck are you doing? Are you insane?" 

"No," Levi snapped back. "I just really don't want to fucking go to this party tonight. I'm serious, Eren. I'm willing to do anything to get out of it." 

The brunet settled Levi with a rather exasperated look, "Stop being so damn dramatic, Levi. You are not fucking licking the floor of this airport."

"Watch me." And Levi was moving to start kneeling when Eren's grip on his arm tightened and he all but started dragging Levi along with him. 

"God damn it! You don't pay me enough for this shit!" 

Thirty minutes later found both Levi and Eren exiting the airport and sliding into Carla's old pick up; all the while, Eren was doing a terrible job of hiding his laughter and Levi couldn't duck his head low enough in embarrassment. 

"I can't-- I can't believe you're the one who lost your own bag!" the brunet wheezed as he slumped forward into the driver's seat and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. 

"Shut the fuck up, Jaeger! It could have happened to anyone!" Levi snapped, refusing to accept that his cheeks were on fire. 

"But-- But it happened to _YOU_. It's just too good! For once, you're the one who messed up and it wasn't me!" another bark of laughter followed that sentence and Levi was just sitting as far away from Eren in the front seat as he possibly could. "Just wait until I tell Miss Hanji about this." 

"You won't tell her shit if I murder you right here, right now and then dump your body in a forest somewhere where the wolves will eat your ass so that no one will ever fucking find you." the shorter man muttered to himself grumpily. 

Levi couldn't believe that _he_ was the one who forgot his own bag at JFK airport back in New York. All this time, he was gearing up to start flinging insults at Eren for being an incompetent Assistant and losing his bag, when all this time it was Levi who was the incompetent one and lost his own fucking bag. 

"Holy shit," Eren finally breathed. He had tears in his eyes causing them to glitter when the few rays of mid-morning sun hit them just right, but Levi was too angry and embarrassed with himself to wax poetry about Eren's stupidly fucking gorgeous eyes. "This is the best moment of my life." 

"... Just fucking drive, Eren." 

Thankfully, his younger Assistant decided to have some mercy on him and he quickly fastened his seat belt and started the engine. They were soon pulling out of the airport parking lot and driving through the busy streets of Berlin. 

Levi sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and hiking his shoulders up to his ears a bit in a poor attempt to curl in on himself and just hide away from Eren and the rest of the world that seemed to be laughing at him. 

Grey eyes stayed trained on the blurred streets and cars passing them by as Levi's mind began to race and he felt the beginnings of a minor anxiety attack about to happen. It was slowly consuming him the more he thought about the fact that he was going to have to socialize with a bunch of strangers while pretending to be in a relationship with his assistant who hated the idea of having to do this almost as much as he did. 

And that was another thing. Levi was slowly starting to realize that he had no allies while he was in this foreign country; he didn't have Hanji and Erwin to come to his rescue like they usually did when he'd enough socializing at company parties and what-not. Eren could probably give less of a shit about him, his friends were only really doing this for Eren's sake and the same went for his family. 

It was finally starting to hit him that he was truly alone here among Eren and his friends and family and not a single one of these people had any reason to like him or tolerate him. That was usually how it worked out, anyway. Most people tended to get very tired of Levi's behavior and attitude very quickly, but he'd become accustomed to that by now. That was why he would always bail out on any parties he was forced to make obligatory appearances at early and just go home to his empty apartment where he could hide and just keep to himself; He was good at hiding. 

But he couldn't just go back to his apartment and hide here. The closest thing he had to a private hiding place was the bedroom that he was sharing with Eren, but even that was a lost cause because eventually Eren would have to come to bed, or Carla would just come in whenever she felt like it and that left Levi with very little opportunity to just be alone with himself. 

This was why he didn't do people. It was all too much and it scared Levi just a bit. He could put on his usual act of not giving a fuck about anyone or anything, but he could only hold that mask up for so long before it began to crack. 

As he explained to Eren in the car earlier; he was a human being with emotions too. Levi was just a lot better at pretending he didn't. 

The first thirty minutes of the drive back to the Jaeger home was filled with tense silence that not even Eren dared to break. It was obvious that Levi was sulking by the way he was sort of scowling out at anything they passed. Eventually, even Eren got fed up with the silence. 

"Is it really that big of a deal? You said so yourself this morning, it was mostly just extra clothes and stuff for personal care." 

Levi sighed, "That's not the point." 

"Then what is?" Eren continued to probe, because he was genuinely curious to know what would cause his usually stoic boss to react this way. Sulking was something he never thought he'd ever see Levi Ackerman do, yet, there he was, sulking in the furthest corner of the passenger's seat of his mother's old pick up truck. 

"Stop talking, Eren." snapped Levi, but it lacked hostility. 

"No," the brunet refused, earning him a dark look from his boss, but Eren was determined to learn the reason behind why Levi was so upset. "I won't stop talking, but, if it makes you feel better, I'll talk about something else." 

"Whatever." Came Levi's tight response. 

Eren cleared his throat and sat a little straighter in his seat while he thought of something to say that would hopefully help lighten the suddenly dark mood. 

"When I was in college, I threw a party at my parent's house while they were visiting my grandparents." 

Levi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he slowly turned to stare at his Assistant. Why the hell was Eren just randomly telling him about a party he threw when he was a teenager. Did he think Levi wanted to know about how he obviously got grounded and banned from throwing any more house parties? Not fucking really. 

"Anyway, Mikasa and Armin tried to talk me out of it, telling me my parents were gonna be royally pissed and blah blah blah. I obviously didn't listen to them, and I ended up throwing this huge party. All these people that I didn't even know came and trashed my place, and all my friends got really wasted and it was just a fucking mess, right?" 

The raven resigned himself to listening to this probably pointless story and turned his exasperated stare back out the passenger's window as Eren continued to ramble on. 

"So, the next morning after I woke up hungover as all hell, everyone from the party had left but all my friends were passed out outside on the deck and some of them were pretty half-naked. Which is also another funny story, because later on we found out that Reiner and Bert had hooked up at that party and that was kind of when they started dating, but anyway." 

"My friends all slowly started waking up one by one and despite being hungover they started helping me clean up my parent's house before they came home. The last person to start getting up was my cousin Sasha's husband Connie-- of course, they weren't married yet, but whatever. Connie was the last one to get up and when he came in the kitchen to find us all, he looked white as a ghost as he was holding a giant cucumber with a bright neon orange condom rolled on it and he sounded like he was on the verge of tears when he started talking--" Eren had to pause to laugh a bit here. "He was like 'Guys... I just woke up and my ass hurts like hell... and I found this cucumber next to me.' and then he actually sniffled and then he was like 'Guys, what happened last night? Am I still a butt virgin or not?!' and we all lost our shit after that because nobody knew why the fuck Connie woke up next to a giant cucumber with a condom on it and his ass hurting." 

Eren was slowly dissolving into a fit of giggles and even Levi had a little bit of a hard time not snorting or smirking at the ridiculous story he'd just heard. 

He must have done a horrible job at keeping his face blank because when Eren looked over at him again, the brunet smiled widely. 

"My point is," he started. "Just be glad you never woke up from a drunken blackout having lost your butt virginity to a vegetable." 

Levi snorted with a roll of grey eyes, "Alright, I get it, Jaeger. I'll stop fucking acting like it's the end of the world just because I lost one suitcase." 

"Good," Eren smirked. "Because I still plan to hold this over your head and I still plan on telling Miss Hanji about it." 

"Eren." Levi grumbled with an almost pleading look. 

"Nope! This is payback for all the shit you've put me through these last two and a half years of working for you." 

And that struck Levi a little too close to an already open wound. He would never admit it, but hearing Eren talk about his past behavior toward him out loud had the little prickles of anxiety forming in his chest again. 

"... am I really that terrible?" the older man asked quietly. 

Eren seemed to sense Levi's darkening mood once more, "... Not really." At Levi's disbelieving stare, he caved. "Okay, yes, you really are that terrible. But, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're sort of entitled to act like an arrogant asshole to some extent. You do some amazing work for our company. It honestly came as such a shock to me that you didn't get that promotion. You're the hardest worker I know and I really think you deserved it more than anyone." 

Levi seemed to perk up a little at the mention of work. 

"Yeah, tell me about it. But, apparently, as long as I'm single and mortgage-less, I'm not entitled to jack shit." 

Eren nodded along with Levi's words sympathetically, "I can't believe Dok said that to you." 

"Yeah, well, I plan to change all that once I get my promotion. Nile Dok will regret ever denying me something that was rightfully mine." 

At Levi's determined words, Eren was silent as he turned off on an exit and they were approaching a very familiar dirt road. Levi assumed they were already halfway to their destination. 

"I have to ask," the brunet picked up again. "What's your stigma with getting married and having a family anyway?" At Levi's silence, Eren continued. "I mean, I've worked for you for almost three years and I've never seen any signs that you're involved with anyone. I don't even know if you're straight or what." 

"None of that matters because I never plan on getting married or having kids. I decided that a long time ago. It's just not in the cards for someone like me..." 

Eren seemed skeptical at Levi's answer, "Are you saying that because you're a workaholic and work comes first or are you saying that because you honestly believe that for yourself?" 

"Both." Came Levi's reply. "I'd be a shit partner for anyone. You've seen first hand what a pain in the ass I can be, what with my neurotic behavior and my obsession with cleanliness. I don't have the patience to date people and let's not mention the fact that most people are morons to me. I'm just better off on my own." 

The brunet seemed to deflate slightly at Levi's words, but the older man wouldn't allow himself the pleasure of thinking that maybe Eren was asking all these intrusive questions for completely different reasons than just pure curiosity. 

"Well, to each their own, I suppose." Eren mumbled.

"What about you the, Jaeger?" At Eren's confused stare, Levi rolled his eyes again. "Why aren't you in a committed relationship or some shit like that?" 

At his question, Eren scoffed loudly, "Are you kidding me right now?" 

"No, I'm fucking serious, you shit." 

"Levi, when the hell am I supposed to find the time to date anyone when I'm always working?" It was said with a playful smirk, but Levi could sense the slight resentment underneath that lighthearted tone. "You seem to forget that as long as you're on the clock, so am I. You're usually in the office from early morning to late into the night, and sometimes you'll even go into the office to work on a saturday. When would one find the time to set up a date, let alone find one?" 

The raven stayed silent at this as guilt slowly ate away at him. Eren was absolutely right, and it only made Levi feel shitty for being the cause of his assistant not having a social life. Now, normally Levi wouldn't have cared, but since coming to Germany, Levi's come to realize a lot of things wrong with his life and the lack of a social life is one of them. 

He just never realized that his own lack of a social life because of work was also affecting his young assistant who clearly didn't share the same opinions on relationships and marriage as he did; And just because Levi had grown to accept the fact that he was probably going to die alone and family-less, didn't mean Eren should sacrifice having a life and a family. Nobody deserved that. 

"Alright," Levi piped up after a good long while of silence. "When we get back to New York, I'm promising to swear off asking you to stay longer than you're paid to and to coming in on Saturdays." 

Eren seemed to look at him like he'd just gone crazy, with one eyebrow raised in skeptical disbelief. 

"... Why do I feel like you're going redact all this once we're actually back in New York?" 

Levi turned a cool stare on his assistant, "You _don't_ want Saturdays off?" 

"No, no! I do!" He quickly clarified. "It's just... hard to believe that you would agree to any of this after just a bit of complaining." 

Levi shrugged one of his shoulders nonchalantly before he returned to staring out the passenger window. 

"Maybe I'm going to try to be a less terrible boss from now on. Who knows." 

The rest of the car ride was silent, but this time, it was a much more comfortable silence compared to before. It was the kind of silence that hung between two people who had just come to equal terms and this feeling pleased Levi to no end. 

At least for just today, Levi could be reassured that Eren didn't resent him as much as before they had this little conversation. It was worth all the embarrassment and the awkward silences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing's gotta be at least 10k lmao I don't even know anymore. I couldn't find a good cut off point. But! Next chapter is gonna be the engagement party! For those of you who were asking in the comments, There will probably be only specific scenes from the movie the Proposal that I'll do my own rendition of, but I won't be following the plot exactly.
> 
> In fact, from here on out (except for a couple of minor scenes) this fic's plot will be completely breaking off from the Proposal's original plotline and it'll be completely my own. Just a head's up, because I know some of you were excited about the woods scene, the wedding dress scene and so on and so forth. I won't be using those at all. Gomen!! 
> 
> Just thought I'd reference a couple of pics of what Levi's tattoos look a little bit like:
> 
> ***1.**  
> [ Magnolia shoulder tattoos](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7c/32/a2/7c32a244d05a0c67433ccc5a547ca59d.jpg)  
>  ***2.**  
> [ Tree Swallow rib cage tattoo](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/14/c8/ac/14c8ac8f9f9ceaf215333ce7db282357.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> As for the french quote, Levi's collar bone tattoo says **"Je ne regrette rien"** which translates to **"I regret nothing"**.
> 
> For anyone who was curious. My waifu Paulinkaaxx had done a sketch of Levi with his magnolia tattoos ages ago, but, I doubt we'd ever find it lol She's too good to me <3


	7. It's Okay, It's Okay (I'll Lie and say It's Okay)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> _'♪ I pray each and every day for me to stay awake 'cause I'm on my own ♪'_  
>  - **On My Own - Amber [Eng Ver]**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be another long chapter, but, that's not necessarily a bad thing, amiright? :'D 
> 
> It's the long awaited engagement party! A lot is gonna happen and the Ereri ship will finally set sail! CAN I GET A HELL FUCKING YEAH!?
> 
> **WARNING**: There are a couple of scenes where Levi has anxiety/panic attacks and they're a little intense. So, just a heads up for anyone who might be bothered by this. YOU CAN TOTALLY SKIP THESE SCENES.**

Upon returning to the Jaeger residence, Eren was still poking fun at the fact that Levi had been responsible for losing his own suitcase when they walked into the familiar house. 

Levi's nose was assaulted by mouth-watering aromas that carried in from the kitchen and he felt his stomach growl. Eren snickered and Levi rolled his eyes at him. 

"It's been five hours since breakfast." the raven grumbled. 

"I didn't say anything." Eren defended with a cheeky smirk. 

"Boys, are you back?" Carla's sweet voice carried in from what Levi assumed was the kitchen.

"Ja, Mutti. We just got back." Eren called back, leading the way into the kitchen. Levi was quickly becoming familiar with at least the kitchen part of the house. 

As the two men entered, they were met with the sight of Carla Jaeger wearing an apron over her pretty clothes and her previous hairstyle of a messy hair bun was now groomed and tamed down into her usual side pony tail that draped over her shoulder. There was splotches of flour and egg all over her apron and even on her face. It was a rather adorable and heart-warming sight, if Levi were being honest. This must have been what coming home to a mother felt like. 

"Well, how did it go down at the airport? Were they able to find Levi's suitcase?" 

Being reminded about that whole situation all over again had Levi frowning and looking away while Eren was no doubt smirking as he explained what happened to his mother in German. 

"Eren Michael Jaeger," Carla chided. "That's not something to laugh about. Poor Levi." 

And once again, Levi was thrown off kilter when Carla rounded the kitchen island. She wiped off any excess flour and egg on her hands onto her apron before she reached out and cupped Levi's face in her hands much like she had done that morning. 

"Do not worry about anything, Mäuschen. Anything you need, just let us know, hm?" 

She placed a kiss on Levi's forehead once again and this time when she pulled away, Levi was caught much less off-guard by the affectionate action and he got away with simply clearing his throat and looking down at his shoes. He heard Eren chuckling off to his side, but he was rewarded with the sight of Carla reaching up and tugging on the brunet's earlobe causing him to stop his chuckling. 

"Stop giving your future husband such a hard time, Eren." she warned. 

Then she walked back toward her make-shift work station at the stove to finish cooking whatever it was she was making. 

Levi turned a smug look on Eren who was pouting at him while rubbing at his slightly red ear. 

"Yeah, Eren. You gotta be nice to me from now on." he patronized. 

Bright teal eyes narrowed at him and Eren was about to open his mouth to say something in return when Mikasa and Armin filtered into the kitchen and spotted the couple. 

"Hey," Mikasa greeted with a small smile Eren's way. "Mom said you were out. Did you just get in?" 

"Yeah, we did. Had to drive Pocket-sized Satan over here back to the airport to pick up a suitcase that wasn't even there." Eren snorted. 

Levi scowled up at him and Armin laughed quietly at the exchange of glares between the two men. 

"Well, you two seem to be getting along well." the blond commented. "Is it always like this between you two?" 

"No," Eren and Levi said in unison. 

"Sometimes, we fight." Levi said with a flat look. 

Mikasa snorted a laugh at this and Armin stifled a giggle with his sleeve. 

"Oh, I'm starting to like him." Mikasa said with a cocked eyebrow shot Levi's way and a smirk. 

"Don't," Eren deadpanned. 

"Aw, don't be that way, honey." Levi crooned in a false sugar-sweet voice. It was funny because his expression was completely blank but his tone of voice wasn't. 

Armin stared at Levi with a sort of assessing gaze that unsettled the raven as he stared back at the blond. Then, Armin smiled sweetly at him. 

"You both really compliment each other well." 

And that was the second time Levi had heard someone tell them that just this weekend alone. It was really starting to worry him; especially since he knew that Armin was aware of everything that was really going on. Okay, well not _everything_ but the most important parts. 

"Mutti, what are making?" Eren suddenly asked. 

"What am I making?" Carla parroted. "I'm cooking the meal for tonight's party." 

The brunet let out a frustrated sigh, "The party isn't for another three hours, Mutti. Why are you cooking everything now?" 

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared, Sonnenschein. _Auf jeden Fall_ , Your aunts are coming to help me make the rest of the food in a bit." [There's no direct translation for this phrase. I just know it's supposed to be the equivalent of "In any case,"]

" _Auf keinen Fall, muter,_ there's no point in making all this food if nobody is here to eat it yet." [Once again, no direct translation other than it's supposed to mean something along the lines of "in no case"]

Carla let out an irritated huff and slammed a pan down on the stove a little too harshly before she was turning and settling her son with a fierce glare. Mikasa, Armin and Eren all flinched and looked down in unison. Levi simply blinked slowly at the sudden change in mood. 

"Eren," was all the brunette had to say before her son was smiling sheepishly at her. 

"Sorry, Mutti." 

"It's fine," Carla said sounding much more calm and collected. "Are you all hungry? I won't mind making a little extra." 

Eren turned to Levi who shrugged, "I could eat." 

Armin and Mikasa both nodded in agreement and that had Carla beaming from ear to ear. 

"Alright, Eren and Levi, go and wash up. Lunch will be on the table."

\- X -

After a very filling and satisfying lunch, courtesy of Mrs. Jaeger, Levi excused himself from the group with the mention of wanting to shower and freshen up.

In truth, Levi just needed a little time to himself after such a draining and social lunch. He wasn't used to eating in a large group of people like that. While he found it comforting that he didn't need to give any of his own input too much, it was still exhausting to sit around a kitchen table with not only Eren, but his sister, his best friend and occasionally the ever lovely yet chatty Carla Jaeger. 

There had been a rather worrying point in the conversation when Carla brought up the fact that Eren and Levi weren't wearing rings on their fingers. To be more precise-- engagement rings. 

Levi been caught completely off guard by this, and a small part of himself panicked when he thought they would finally be found out, but somehow Eren had managed to save them. Although, Levi wasn't exactly sure if he felt grateful toward him for the save or not. 

"Oh, our engagement rings?" The brunet had started off in a light tone. "Well, Mutti. You'll never believe it, but, _Levi_ lost them along with his suitcase." 

And Carla then proceeded to gasp and make a huge fuss over the fact that Levi had lost their non-existent engagement rings and Levi was forced to put on an act of the irresponsible, remorseful Fiance and while Levi would never claim to be an actor, let alone a very good one, Carla had seemed to buy his act and they were once again in the clear. 

It was such a lively meal, stimulating as it was, but Levi needed time to decompress after such a social interaction. Especially if he was expected to attend this fucking party this evening as well. Levi could only imagine that the party would be similar to the very enthusiastic lunch, only ten times louder and with much more people. 

Sighing, Levi was all too grateful for the dead silence that greeted him upon entering Eren's old bedroom. Everything had been tidied while they were away, and Levi couldn't help but think it was no doubt Carla's doing. That woman needed to stop being so damn wonderful. Levi was worried he was starting to get just a little attached to her and that was very, very bad. 

The raven took five minutes to just lay on the bed and collect his thoughts, going over the events of the morning and afternoon before he finally decided there was just no point in laying around overthinking shit. 

He stood up from the bed and started to pull his turtleneck up by the hem before he stopped. 

If he stripped out in the middle of the open bedroom, there was a chance that Carla or even Eren could walk in and see him. But, on the other hand, Levi had said that he was going to shower, so there really should be no reason for why either Eren or his intrusive mother should come in. 

With a shrug, Levi made his decision and ripped off the black turtleneck that was just the tiniest bit stifling. The cool air that hit his now bare skin caused it to pimple up and Levi took the time to fold up his turtleneck neatly before setting it aside on the edge of the bed to be put away later. 

Once that was taken care of, Levi went about his routine of showering and properly cleaning himself before he stepped back out into the room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. 

He stood at the edge of the bed with his open suitcase out as he rummaged through it looking for a suitable outfit for tonight. He may not want to go to the party, but that didn't excuse Levi from looking like shit while he was there. He cared about appearances to some extent. 

As he rifled through the many outfits he'd prepared for this trip, Levi cursed quietly when he realized that he only had one turtleneck left and it was a little too thick and heavy for the mild weather. 

He had packed it just in case it was a lot colder than he anticipated it would be, but his worried were unfounded and Levi cursed again when he realized that if he wore this turtleneck, he'd be sweating like a pig the whole evening. He grimaced at just the thought of it. 

Levi was forced to push the neatly folded knit turtleneck aside as he began to look through the button up's he'd brought with him just in case he'd need to look formal for something. Would this party count as a formal event? Probably not, he guessed. 

Still, Levi held up button up after button up, some being Valentino or Givenchy and a little too flashy for an engagement party on someone's deck. While he was busy contemplating his options, Levi heard a soft clearing of a throat and he was immediately freezing up, his heart nearly stopping and his blood running cold. 

"Levi..." Came Eren's stunned voice from behind him. 

Levi couldn't help it, he turned around at the mention of his name and no doubt gave Eren an eyeful of all of his body art. 

The brunet was standing in the doorway staring at Levi with wide doe eyes and his mouth slightly hanging open as he tried his best to take in every inch of Levi's exposed torso. 

"Y-You have... Tatto--" before Eren could even finish saying the word, Levi had turned on the ball of his foot and hurried back into the safety of the bathroom, where Eren's searching eyes couldn't follow him. 

"Wait!" Eren called after him, but to no avail. 

The raven slammed the door behind him and immediately slumped against it before sliding down against the cool of the painted wood. He screwed his eyes shut and let out a string of curses under his breath until his ass finally touched the ground and Levi curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his own upper body in a vain attempt to cover the tattoos all over his body. 

Levi was only very distantly aware of the sound of Eren's concerned voice calling out to him but he wasn't entirely sure if he was knocking on the door or not; frankly that was the least of his concerns right now. If Eren did try to coax him out of the bathroom, Levi drowned out any and all of his attempts. 

He should have been more careful. He _should_ have known that this would happen eventually. This was exactly the situation he had been hoping to avoid since first learning that he'd be sharing a room with Eren the evening before. He had tried so hard to keep Eren-- to keep _anyone_ from finding out about his tattoos. He'd made sure to get up way before Eren and shower and change to avoid the risk of him seeing these painful reminders permanently inked into his skin. 

It wasn't like Levi's tattoos were something he was ashamed of, but they were visible mnemonics to constantly remind him that he'd been responsible for something that he could never forgive himself for; his tattoos were both his salvation and his punishment.

Burying his face in the crook of his folded arms, Levi tried to swallow around the lump in his throat and forced his panic away as best he could, but it was no use; The anxiety was already eating away at him and the panic was clawing it's way up his throat in an attempt to get him to cry out-- to make some type of desperate noise, but Levi refused. 

He couldn't let himself lose it here. Not when he was hundreds of thousands of miles from home and the comfort of knowing that Hanji and Erwin could be reached with just the press of a button. Not that he'd ever call them seeking relief from one of his many crippling anxiety attacks. But still, it was nice to know that he had the option to phone his two oldest and closest friends and if he'd asked it of them-- if he just said the word, they would no doubt come running to his side to comfort him and help him through it.

But he never called and he never asked for help. He preferred to deal with his attacks on his own, despite knowing the fact that dealing with a panic attack on his own only seemed to intensify them. That didn't stop him from doing it alone anyway. Hanji and Erwin didn't need to shoulder his burdens; they were Levi's alone to bare.

Levi forced his breath to even out as best he could and he clutched at his own arms in some useless attempt to ground himself again. He could feel the way his body trembled violently, and it didn't seem to matter that he was nearly ass naked sitting on a cold bathroom floor; and it was getting harder to breath again, hard to swallow around what felt like his throat closing up. 

Blunt nails bit into the skin of his bicep where a petal of the three magnolias tattooed on his arm were, and Levi forced himself to take a steadying breath but it was ragged and labored. His anxiety gripped onto his throat and vocal cords and choked him into a quiet submission. Even if he'd wanted to cry out, he probably wouldn't. 

And it was only after a few minutes had passed when his attack was at it's highest peak that Levi got a strange yet familiar sense of equanimity; this false sense of gaining control over himself again but Levi knew it was just his brain fucking with him. It was well-hidden beneath all his self-loathing, melancholy and a mild desperation to just disappear. 

At times like these, when Levi was younger, he'd get through one of his attacks by picking up a guitar and playing and singing his heart out until his throat was raw and his fingers were bleeding. But, sometimes, that was exactly what he needed. A form of escape from his own horribly dark thoughts; from the nasty voice in the blackest corners of his mind that constantly whispered to him that he didn't deserve to be here-- nobody wanted him... he wasn't _needed_.

Finally, after what felt like ten agonizing hours, Levi felt his attack begin to wane and his body stopped trembling slowly one minute at a time. The anxiety that had filled his chest earlier was now disappearing and he was able to take in a calming breath. It was deep and deliberate, like a drowning man taking his first breath of precious air after having inhaled so much water and feeling nothing but the burn of his lungs for so long.

An attack was a lot like drowning, Levi thought to himself distantly. 

He stayed sitting on the floor clutching his own arms and holding onto them desperately and hoping he wasn't vanishing into thin air like some kind of ghost. There was no sound except for the sound of his own deep breathing, in and out, in and out, and his heart thudding in his eardrums like a metronome.

And he was so tired. He had unscrewed his eyes at some point and was simply staring at the pristine tiles on the floor, absently tracing the grout lines and blinking slowly every now and again. He wanted nothing more than to get the fuck out of this bathroom, sleep for a week and hopefully not have to wake up again for awhile.

But for now, this bathroom was the only thing keeping him safe from the absolute strangers on the other side of the door. And Levi felt a very dull ache in his chest at the thought that he was alone here, but, for the most part, he was once again blissfully numb to everything around him. He had successfully dealt with another attack.

And that was okay; he was used to this familiar feeling. These types of attacks were normal for him; he could handle this. He could handle numbness; Numb was good; Numb was safe.

\- X -

Half an hour later, Levi finally felt calm enough to leave the bathroom.

He'd taken the time to fix his still slightly damp hair while he was in there, just for the sake of something to do to start helping him get over the exhaustion his attack left behind in it's wake. The only real physical evidence that he'd even had an attack in the first place. 

To say that he was surprised to see that Eren was sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched forward wringing his hands in front of him as he glared a hole into the floor when he walked out, would be an understatement. Levi was shocked, and it must have shown on his face or in his eyes or something because when Eren looked up at the sound of the bathroom door opening, his eyes were absolutely wide with concern and a mild trace of fear.

"Levi," he'd breathed out in quiet relief. 

The raven was very aware that he was still very much half-naked and only wearing a towel to cover his most important bits, but quite frankly, Levi was definitely too tired to care anymore. 

He went about moving around the room until he came to the edge of the bed where Eren was sitting and he stared down blankly at the brunet who stared at his half-naked form. 

"You're in my way, Jaeger." Levi's husky voice finally broke the silence, startling his younger assistant. 

It was almost comical, the way Eren belatedly registered his words and then proceeded to shoot up from the bed like there had been a fire set under his ass. At this point, though, the only thing Levi could do was scoff softly and roll his eyes. 

"Um, look." Eren began a little hesitantly. Levi only half listened as he started grabbing some fresh clothes from his suitcase. "I just want you to know, I'm not going to push you into telling me anything. I mean, I'm curious as all hell, don't get me wrong." 

At this, Levi shot Eren a sharp glare and the brunet swallowed nervously before he continued. 

"But, I'm not going to ask and I'm not going to bring it up. Whatever it is, I'm sure you have your reasons, and I'm going to respect that." 

The older man stopped folding one of his discarded button ups and he hesitantly glanced up at his taller assistant through his damp fringe. Eren simply rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly before he started to turn to leave the room. 

Just before the brunet reached the door, Levi called out, stopping him from going any further. 

"Eren," and he waited until his assistant turned back to look at him uncertainly. "Thank you." 

And Levi meant it. He was truly grateful for Eren not trying to poke and prod him for answers regarding such a personal issue. Levi also wanted to thank him for just being Eren and fucking waiting for him to get out of the bathroom all the while worrying about him. That was something Levi had never expected.

There had never been anybody just waiting for him so expectantly after he'd just had an attack, and he would admit, it was almost comforting. 

"Of course," was all the brunet said, because he understood exactly what Levi was thanking him for without the raven even needing to explain. 

And it was such a relief to just have someone _understand_ him. There were very few people who did; in fact, Levi could honestly say Hanji and Erwin and Mike were probably the only people who did understand him, but that was because Hanji was a persistent shit and Erwin was just that smart and Mike, well, Mike was a mystery but Levi was grateful to all of them. 

Clearing his throat, Eren flashed a gentle smile Levi's way and it was like a soothing balm over the gaping wound in his chest that never seemed to heal. 

"I'll see you downstairs in a few minutes, right?" 

To his question, Levi simply sighed softly and nodded his head. As exhausted as he already was, Levi didn't want to let Eren down. Which was a hell of a new emotion for him because never before had he ever felt the need to meet his assistant's expectations for anything. If anyone were to ask Levi why he was being much more compliant and calm despite the fact that he still very much didn't want to go to this party, well, he would just blame it on the fact that he just didn't have the energy to fight the inevitable. 

Finally, Eren left him to finish getting dressed and Levi was alone in a room that suddenly seemed much too cold and empty without the brunet's warm presence there to fill it.

\- X -

Levi and Eren stood stiffly next to each other as they braced themselves for what was to come.

The raven cleared his throat quietly before he raised one of his hands up between them and Eren looked at him curiously. 

"We gonna hold hands or not, dumbass?" Levi mumbled, pointedly avoiding eye contact with his attractive assistant. 

Eren had changed into a two-tone denim button down with skinny dark wash jeans and a pair of cognac lace up combat boots. He had the sleeves of his denim shirt rolled up and cuffed showing off his toned forearms and more of his gorgeous sun-kissed skin. 

Levi, on the other hand, wore all black again. The only difference was that he was wearing a button down instead of his usual turtleneck. Eren had shown mild surprise to this as well, since Levi only ever wore button down shirts whenever it was too warm outside to get away with a turtleneck. 

The brunet didn't comment on Levi's question of whether or not they were going to hold hands, instead choosing to simply take Levi's hand into his own and lacing their fingers together. The action seemed so simple now that they'd done it a couple of times, and Levi decided he didn't want to have his free hand just dangling uselessly at his side, so he crossed it over his abdominal section and tucked it under his other arm. 

"Are you sure you're alright?" came Eren's slightly concerned voice a little too close to Levi's ear. 

"I'm fine." The raven brushed off. "Let's just get this over with." 

He felt Eren give his hand a light squeeze before the brunet was leading them toward the outside deck where Levi could already hear a lot of commotion going on. 

Levi was silently surprised by the moderate group of people mingling about out on the desk, many of whom he remembered seeing and speaking to yesterday. 

He immediately recognized the burly blond Reiner with one beefy arm wrapped possessively around his taller, lankier other half, Bertholdt. Then Levi quickly spotted Armin, Mikasa and her husband, Jean all gathered near the stairs leading down toward the pier on the lake. Eren's younger cousin Sasha was doing what Levi assumed was what she did best, which was sneaking food onto a plate that was already overflowing with all kinds of different foods. 

"Eren! Levi!" Sasha yelled from across the deck while waving wildly at them. 

That earned them everyone else's attention and Levi swallowed dryly when every pair of eyes suddenly turned to stare at them standing near the glass sliding doors holding hands like a couple of awkward pre-teens.

"Hey, there's the happy new couple!" Reiner cheered.

Reiner and Bert were the first to approach them before the rest of the party joined in crowding around Eren and Levi like if they were some kind of spectacle to be viewed in a museum. Mikasa and Armin exchanged mischievous looks with each other and Levi was definitely a little nervous now. Had Armin told Mikasa anything? 

"Alright, everyone." Carla's voice suddenly carried over the crowd. "1,2,3!" 

Suddenly, Eren's friends and family started singing some song in German to them and Levi was so utterly confused at what was happening right now. He glanced up at Eren for some kind of explanation, but he found his assistant blushing deeply and looking quite flustered. 

"Guys, no, come on!" he all but groaned. "We're not gonna kiss in front of... everyone." 

"But, Sonnenschein!" Carla laughed. "It's a tradition for the newly engaged couple to kiss when the song is sung!" 

"But, Mutti--" Eren began to argue, but Levi quickly interrupted him by giving his hand a harsh squeeze to gain his assistant's full attention. 

"Eren," He murmured quietly. "Stop arguing and just kiss me. There's no other way around it right now." 

The brunet opened his mouth as if ready to protest, but Levi stopped him short by reaching up with his free hand to gently grab the back of Eren's neck and pull him down to his level. It also didn't hurt that Levi surged up on the tips of his toes just a bit to make this easier on both of them. Damn height difference.

Levi pressed their lips together firmly, but kept the kiss very simple and chaste. Eren had made some kind of noise of surprise in his throat when Levi kissed him, but he'd seemed to resign himself to simply letting Levi press their lips together in a show of false modesty for his friends and family to see. 

The older man tried to ignore the fact that Eren's lips were so soft and warm, if only for his own sanity's sake. If he started liking the feel of Eren's lips now, it could only mean bad things. So, when a few seconds had passed, Levi quickly pulled his lips away and tried his best not to lick them, because, that seemed like a weird thing to do after a kiss, right? 

He didn't really bother to gauge Eren's reaction to his sudden action, but Levi could only guess that the younger man was probably shell-shocked. His tyranical boss just kissed him, after all. Not exactly one's most ideal situation, Levi thought to himself bitterly. 

"Oh, come on." Reiner groaned. "That was it?" 

"Reiner," Bert elbowed his lover in the ribs earning him a grunt. "Leave them alone." 

"That's alright," Carla said over the crowd of twenty-something-year-olds. "I'm sure they're just shy." she said sweetly. "We'll try again later, ja?" 

The small crowd of Eren's friends and family that had gathered around them all groaned but slowly dispersed going back to whatever it was they were doing before, and Levi let out a small sigh of relief. Crisis averted, for now, it seemed. 

Finally, Levi turned to look at his Assistant who was gnawing on his lower lip with a slightly worried expression; his cheeks were still flushed a lovely shade of pink, which Levi thought was quite a fetching look on his young assistant. 

"Sorry," The raven suddenly apologized. He seemed to startle Eren, who looked back at him with wide eyes, as if he'd simply forgotten Levi was still standing next to him holding his hand. "I know that was weird as shit, but, you obviously weren't going to do anything, so, I had to do something." 

"What?" Eren asked distractedly. "Oh, yeah! No, no, I totally understand." he laughed nervously. "It was just... unexpected." 

Levi couldn't help but snort at that, "This whole situation is unexpected. You think you'd be used to it by now." 

"Ah, ha, yeah." The brunet trailed off after a while and Levi watched him only for a moment. 

He couldn't help but wonder what could possibly be going through Eren's head right now to make him seem so distracted. Surely, the kiss couldn't have been that bad? It was hardly even a proper kiss. More like just a pressing of lips against lips and that's it. There was nothing sensual or intimate about it; Levi had made sure of that. 

Then, a petite blonde that Levi was definitely not familiar with approached them and smiled sweetly. 

"Hey, Eren! Congratulations on your engagement." the small girl chirped. 

The longer Levi looked at her, the more he thought she looked eerily similar to Armin. The two shared frighteningly familiar features, such as the bright blond hair and insanely large blue eyes. Granted, this girl had a slightly lighter shade of blue than Armin, but other than that, it was like Levi was looking at a clone. (He was, however, happy to note that this girl was most definitely shorter than him.) 

"Hey, Krissy!" Eren greeted excited, his former internal conflict forgotten. "Long time no see, kiddo." 

'Krissy' giggled upon Eren bending down quite a bit in order to give the girl a big hug, to which she happily returned before she swatted Eren on his shoulder playfully. 

"When are you gonna stop calling me 'Kiddo'? I'm only a year younger than you and my brother." 

"Yeah, but you're still so tiny." the brunet laughed while patting the top of the girl's head. 

The girl batted his hand away and puffed her cheeks up in an adorable manner to show her indignation toward Eren calling her 'tiny' and, hell, Levi could sympathize with her on that, unfortunately. Then, big blue eyes were turning their attention on him and the girl smiled just as sweetly as she had smiled at Eren. 

"Hello! We haven't been properly introduced yet. I'm Krista, Armin's younger sister." Krista must have been briefed by the other blond, because she didn't even attempt to put a hand out to shake Levi's. 

"Oh, right, You haven't met each other yet." Eren seemed to remember all of a sudden. "Krissy, this is my Fiance, Levi Ackerman. We work together in New York." 

"Nice to meet you, Levi." Krista nodded. "My brother mentioned meeting you yesterday, but his description of you doesn't really do you any justice." 

"I can only imagine," Levi quipped. "I'm sure he probably made me sound a lot taller." 

Krista got a good laugh out of that, which Eren seemed to approve of when he shot Levi a rather pleased look. 

"Well, no, but Armin didn't mention how handsome you actually are." Then, Krista was turning to Eren and winking up at him. "Nice catch, Eren." 

Levi couldn't help the amused snort of laughter that left him at that. 

"I like her," he stated.

Krista's smile widened at this, while Eren seemed startled by Levi's statement. Grey eyes met amused teal and Eren tilted his head at him curiously, as if to ask _'When have you ever "liked" anyone?'_ and Levi shrugged at him in response. 

"Oh, but I came over here to tell you that Annie is coming." the petite blonde suddenly recalled out loud. "Your mother invited her and Ymir should be getting here with her soon." 

"Oh," Eren said, suddenly sounding much less enthusiastic. "Really?" 

"Mhm." Krista smiled. 

"... is she...?" 

At his unasked question, the petite blonde giggled before she reached out and patted Eren on the side of his arm in a gesture of friendly comfort. 

"You worry too much, you know that? Just talk to her and see for yourself, silly." 

And with that, Krista turned and winked at Levi with a smile before she was being called away by Reiner and Bert. 

Levi watched her go before he flicked his gaze back up to observe Eren's worried expression. Well, that couldn't be a good sign, right? Levi didn't know if it was appropriate for him to ask about this 'Annie' person or not, but, he figured if Eren wanted to tell him about her, he would, right? 

Taking a page out of Eren's book, Levi did the only thing he knew would show he was trying to reassure his Assistant without hopefully seeming creepy about it. He gave Eren's hand a small squeeze prompting teal eyes to look down at him. 

"I'm not going to ask." was all Levi said before he looked away. "But, maybe we should at least stop standing in front of the door." 

Eren finally broke out into a hesitant smile before he laughed quietly and led Levi by the hand out toward the furthest railing of the deck that overlooked the lake behind Eren's parent's house and the garden. They finally unlaced their fingers and Levi flexed his hand a bit; His fingers were a little stiff.

"Annie is my ex-girlfriend." the brunet suddenly said with a heavy sigh. Then he was running a hand through his hair and pushing back the bangs that framed his face. 

"Okay." Levi said. 

"Okay?" Eren scoffed. "That's all you're gonna say?" 

Again, Levi shrugged one of his shoulders. "You didn't ask me about my tattoos. I figured I'm just returning the favor." 

Eren fell silent at that while his eyes looked out over the lake's surface as though in search of something in it's reflecting face. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. 

"It's not like it's some big secret or anything. My parents know, and my friends all found out eventually." 

"Alright," Levi agreed, turning his body to the side slightly as he rested an elbow against the wood railing. "So, let's hear it. Why did you go white as a ghost when Krista told you Annie was coming?" 

"Don't know if it was obvious or not, but, my dad and I kind of aren't on good terms with each other, and it has to do with Annie, partly." 

"Well, at least it's a relief to know that your Daddy's anger is all directed toward me." the raven snorted. "but, go on." 

"Anyway," Eren continued, taking up a similar position as Levi against the railing. "I dated Annie for a few years in High School and then College, but then my dad started pressuring me into going to Med-School to be a Doctor and marrying Annie and I told him that's not what I wanted. I mean, yeah, I loved Annie, but I didn't want to marry her and settled down with a family just yet. I was only twenty-two at the time and I'd never been on my own before. So, without really telling anyone, I just got my stuff and moved to the City." 

Levi cocked an eyebrow at Eren, prompting him for further elaboration. 

"You mean, you just up and fucking left without telling _anyone_? Not even your girlfriend?" 

Eren nodded, "Yep. Not even Annie. So, we never like officially broke up. Things just kind of ended between us when I left, and I haven't seen or spoken to her in three years since I left." 

"Fuck, Eren." Levi scoffed. "I know this is going to sound surprising coming from me of all people, but that was fucked up. No wonder you're nervous about seeing her again." 

The brunet laughed, "Yeah, well, I'm hoping Annie will just be merciful enough to slap me once and be done with it instead of something worse like kicking me in the balls." 

"I'd probably wanna kick you in the balls too if we were together for so long and you suddenly just up and left without so much as a word." 

Eren winced at Levi words, "You're probably right. Damn. Now I'm _really_ worried."

The two men fell into a tense Silence, with Levi not even knowing what to say to try to reassure his Assistant that it probably wasn't even that big of a deal. But, then again, Levi was the last person to be giving _anyone_ advice when it came to ex's or anything having to do remotely with romance or relationships. 

He'd never been in a serious relationship in his life, and all his past sexual encounters had all pretty much ended in disaster in one form or another. 

"Levi, Eren!" Carla approached them with a large smile on her face. "Why are you two just standing over here by yourselves. This party is being held for the both of you in your honor! You should be mingling!" she chided playfully. 

"Actually, that's a good point, Mutti." Eren beamed back at his mother before flashing an impish grin at his fake Fiance. Levi frowned at him. "I think I'm gonna go talk to Reiner and Connie for a bit." 

"Eren," Carla frowned. "You are not going to abandon your Husband-to-be with your mother. You should take him with you. You both need to circulate together." 

"Nah, Levi hates circulating at parties, right, _hon_?" the brunet cooed. 

Levi slightly bristled at the patronizing tone of voice Eren was using on him all of a sudden, and boy, what he wouldn't do to be able to wipe that dumb smirk off his Assistant's face right now. Instead, Levi decided to take a different approach to Eren's shitty behavior; two could play this game, after all. 

"Yes, well, you know me, _sweetheart_."

That had Eren's smirk slightly faltering but Levi had to give his younger Assistant some credit where it was due. At least Eren didn't choke on air or trip over himself as he was turning to walk away. 

"Oh, that boy." Mrs. Jaeger huffed with a shake of her head. "I promise you, Levi. Grisha and I definitely raised him with better manners than that." 

Levi chuckled softly as Carla took up Eren's place next to him. The raven hadn't taken the time to really look to see what Carla was wearing this evening, so he took the time out now. 

Carla was wearing a modest yellow sundress with floral print and a white lace shawl with fringe wrapped around her shoulders. She also had a sunflower in her hair and Levi couldn't help but wonder where she'd gotten the accessory from. It wasn't a fake sunflower, after all, it was real. 

"Oh," the brunette smiled a bit shyly as she reached up and patted the side of her hair that was half tied back with a braid while the rest of her dark locks draped over her shoulders. "Grisha had a small bouquet of Sunflowers sent to me this afternoon. I used one of them to pin back some pesky hairs that wouldn't stay tucked behind my ear." she explained. 

It was a little strange to hear about Eren's stern father sending his mother flowers. From two times Levi had been forced to speak with the man, he would have never taken him as the type to make romantic gestures, no matter how small. Yet, it was rather cute and heartwarming to see how flustered Carla seemed to get just talking about her husband sending her flowers. 

"Do you like sunflowers?" Levi asked. 

"Yes," Carla chirped, her warm golden eyes lighting up in a way that reminded Levi too much of Eren. "I just think they're beautiful. Grisha usually gets them for me on my birthday, but today he sent them as a way to ask for my forgiveness." she chuckled. 

"Forgiveness?" the raven couldn't help but ask. 

"Mm," Eren's mother looked out toward her garden with the same searching look he'd seen on Eren's face earlier, her eyes thoughtful. "I know my husband can seem a little... serious." she supplied with a small smile flashed at Levi. 

"Not exactly the word I would use, but, yes, I see what you mean." 

Carla threw he head back in a wonderful laugh and Levi felt the corners of his lips twitch up. He really was getting just a little too attached to this wonderful woman. 

"Oh, you naughty boy." the brunette shook her head while reaching over to tap Levi on the tip of his nose. "But, yes, Grisha can be a hard man for most people to understand sometimes, but, he means well."

Levi sighed at that, "Yes, that I understand perfectly." 

"Oh?" 

The raven was hesitant to tell Carla about the _pleasant_ conversation he'd had with the good Doctor yesterday, but, this was Carla; Levi was more than sure she knew what her husband was capable of and how he treated those he didn't quite take a shine to. 

"We had a very... _interesting_ conversation out here yesterday." Levi kept his gaze on the Lake's surface as he continued. "While it definitely wasn't a very welcoming one, I could definitely understand that he was only thinking about Eren's best interests." 

He could see Carla nod her head from his peripheral, "Parent's are often misunderstood, Mäuschen. Especially by their own children. They see our disapproval and disappointment as us simply trying to make things harder for them, but that's not it at all. My husband simply wants Eren to live a life free of any complications and worries, as do I, but..." she paused and looked down at her sandals. "His happiness means more to me than whether or not my son makes enough money to live comfortably or marries someone I approve of." 

For a moment, Levi just had to let everything Carla said sink in, because he'd never really thought of it like that before. He didn't have parents to make his life hard for him growing up, or to push him to do better. He'd had one absent uncle whom, while not abusive, was a tough man who believed in learning things the hard way. Kenny was a hard man for Levi to understand as a child, but, now that Carla had put parenting into perspective like this, the raven supposed he could almost understand why Kenny was the way he was and why did the things he did. 

That still didn't make it right for him to abandon Levi for days at a time, but, he could at least understand that his Uncle-- while not his Father in any way -- was raising Levi to be the man he was today. He used a pretty fucked up method to teach in independence was important in this world, sure, but now as a grown man, Levi was grateful for the time spent with his Uncle. 

"Levi?" Carla called, snapping him out of his memories with a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Mäuschen?" 

"Yes," The raven cleared his throat. "Just, something you said made me think of my Uncle." 

"Oh. How so?" the older woman asked almost eagerly. 

Levi hated when Carla did this shit to him. Somehow, she always managed to disarm him to the point where he'd just spill all this personal and private shit to her. Is this what it was like to have a mom? Did they just cast some kind of weird spell over you that made it impossible to hide anything from them? Probably. 

He shrugged one of his shoulders up a bit uncomfortably. Levi really didn't want to talk about his childhood, or his Uncle. Not even if it was Carla. 

"I lived with my Uncle for a bit as a child. He was a tough man to live with." 

Levi saw the furrow between Carla's dark eyebrows and he knew he was stepping into a trap here. If he didn't say something to deflect the woman soon, he'd probably end up spilling his entire sob story to her right here in the middle of this fucking deck during a party for a fake engagement. 

"But now that I'm older, I can sort of understand why he was hard to live with." 

Carla opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but then she closed it and pursed her lips tightly together before nodding her head. Well, looks like Levi managed to avoid a disaster. 

"Oh! That's right, Levi. I wanted to come and talk about those engagement rings." the brunette suddenly perked up, turning to Levi and smiling knowingly. 

The raven tried not to groan out loud, but he was only half-successful earning him another laugh from Eren's mother who seemed to think anything Levi did was just _hilarious_.

"Now, I know you must still be upset about having lost them, but that's what I came to speak with you about. I think you and Eren definitely need to buy new ones." 

"Right," Levi grumbled. "Of course, we should." 

"I would give the address of a lovely jeweler here in Germany, but that would be a bit pointless since you'll be leaving tomorrow." Carla lightly smacked the front of her forehead and Levi couldn't help but find that adorable. Why couldn't Eren be more like his mother? Levi didn't find her annoying in the least, but, that was probably because he didn't have to deal with the woman everyday. He figured Carla Jaeger was one of those people he could only handle in small controlled doses before he found her just the tiniest bit irritating. 

"Where did you and Eren get your rings from the first time?" she suddenly asked and Levi was completely caught off guard by the question. 

Fuck. He hadn't been expecting that. 

"Uh," he so eloquently said. "I think it was..." and Levi quickly searched for the name of some high priced fucking jeweler. Kay jewelers? Zales? Fucking Jared the Galleria of Jewelry? "We went to... Jared." 

"Ohh, Jared's?" Carla perked up. "They have beautiful jewelry. Good choice, Mäuschen." she patted Levi's shoulder approvingly and he let out a mental breath of relief because for a moment he was sweating bullets. "I hope you replace those rings, though. I would be so uneasy knowing that Grisha or I didn't have our wedding bands on at all times." 

"Ahem, yes, well." Levi rubbed at his neck feeling slightly uncomfortable before an idea hit him. "Actually, it probably wouldn't be such a bad idea for Eren and I to replace our rings as soon as we're back in New York." 

"That's a very good idea!" Carla nodded her head vigorously. "Oh, I'm going to pester Eren to make sure to send me pictures. I didn't get to see the first set of rings." 

"Well, I _do_ tend to spoil Eren." Levi lied smoothly. This was all payback for Eren being a little shit about the suitcase thing. "I'm sure you won't be disappointed with our pick." 

Levi allowed Carla to talk his ear off about anything and everything after that. He was honestly just relieved that he had managed to keep himself from blowing their cover. Speaking of, Levi glanced around the outdoor Desk to try and locate his "Fiance" and spotted him standing over by the stairs that lead down to the pier. 

At first, Levi thought the blonde head of hair that he spotted standing next to Eren was Krista because the person was short enough to be the petite girl, but then Levi had to really squint and take in the slightly lighter shade of blonde hair and the fact that it was shorter and pinned up in a hair clip before he realized that this person standing next to Eren wasn't Krista at all. 

"Is that Annie?" Levi heard himself ask, never taking his eyes off of Eren at the other petite blonde girl he was leaning down to hug. 

Carla had stopped her chattering to glance over her shoulder and spot her son with his ex and she flashed Levi a tight smile. 

"You knew about Annie?" she asked hesitantly. 

"Yes, Eren told me about her." the raven answered honestly. He just couldn't tear his eyes away from the couple as Eren seemed to be nervously trying to explain something to the petite blonde. "She's pretty." he mumbled distractedly. 

"Yes, well, Grisha had high hopes that Eren and Annie would get married, but, life works in mysterious ways." the older woman chuckled, obviously trying to lighten the mood. 

Levi couldn't help but feel an odd sort of sinking in his stomach as he watched Eren touch Annie so familiarly and begin to lead her down the stairs. He was suddenly reminded that Eren never said anything about whether or not he still had feelings for Annie or not. He'd only explained to Levi how he'd left without even properly breaking up with her, but that didn't necessarily mean he didn't still _love_ her. 

Suddenly, he was feeling just a little bit guilty that Eren was probably trying to explain this whole situation to her. He couldn't imagine that conversation being easy.

First, Eren had to apologize like crazy for just leaving without saying anything. It was probably a good sign that he hadn't seen Annie try to kick Eren in the nuts so far. Second, he'd have to explain that the only reason he came back after three years was because he was engaged to some other person who just so happened to be his tyrannical boss. 

Then a thought struck Levi like lightning. Would Eren tell Annie about this whole sham of an engagement? Tell her that he was being blackmailed into pretending to be engaged to his boss, who he loathed, for the sake of his job? It was entirely possible. 

"Levi?" Carla's sweet voice cut into his racing thoughts. 

"Excuse me," Levi cleared his throat before straightening up and smoothing out any wrinkles in his shirt. "I think I need a drink." 

As if on cue, Reiner came up to Carla and Levi and slapped Levi on his back roughly earning him a deep scowl and a grunt from the raven. 

"Did I hear someone say they needed a drink?" he smirked. "I can help you with that." 

"Reiner," Carla caught the blond's attention. "Show Levi where we keep everything. Maybe he'd like to eat something, too." 

Just the mention of food had Levi's stomach churning. His anxiety was slowly starting to bubble up in his chest again and he did his best to push it down. Alcohol was the only thing that would help calm him at this point. 

"I'm not very hungry at the moment," He politely refused Carla's suggestion of food. "But, a drink would be perfect." 

"Cool," Reiner said, wrapping a big, meaty arm around Levi's toned shoulders and leading him back inside toward the kitchen. "So, what's your poison, Boss?" 

And that was how Levi ended up back outside twenty minutes later standing in a corner alone with a tumbler of straight Bourbon in one hand as he sipped on it and hoped it would be enough to calm the little spurts of anxiety he felt still coming and going. 

Eren was really taking his time with Annie, as Levi still had yet to see his young Assistant ascend the stairs again. It made that sinking feeling in his stomach worsen the more he thought about it, so he tried not to; except, his brain was a traitorous fuck and only made him start thinking about it more and more. 

Levi tried his best to distract himself by people watching, and it seemed to help just a little. So, he kept himself busy with watching Eren's friends and family as they all talked and laughed with one another. 

"Hey," a familiar voice greeted him. 

Levi turned his head to see Mikasa and her husband Jean approaching him. Mikasa's expression was carefully blank while Jean looked smug for some odd reason. 

"Eren's not with you?" Mikasa asked, stopping just a few feet short of him and crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Do you see him anywhere around?" Levi snarked back. "He's in the garden talking with Annie. I think." he added as an after thought. 

"Annie?" Jean snorted. "If he hasn't come back yet, he probably got his ass kicked." 

"Jean," Mikasa frowned at him and Jean was immediately shutting up. "How long as he been talking to her?" 

Levi shrugged, "How the hell should I know? I'm not timing him." 

Eren's sister cocked a curious brow at him while shifting her weight over to the other foot so that her hip was jutting out just so giving her a very sassy look. Levi recognized that pose; she was getting ready to out-sass him. 

"You're acting surprisingly indifferent for someone who's Fiance is off somewhere with his ex for who knows how long." she stated casually. "Aren't you even a little bit worried?" 

Levi took another swig of his Bourbon and relished in the liquid fire that left a trail down his throat and settled nicely in his belly, easing the knot that had seemed to make a home there. 

"Not really," he grunted back, and he was probably doing a poor job at masking his irritability with this whole situation. 

Mikasa didn't look like she believed him at all, "Fine. I'll go get myself." 

Levi watched with mild interest as the young onyx-haired woman brushed past him and made her way for the stairs that led down to the Garden. When she was gone, the raven was annoyed to note that Jean was still hanging around him for some reason. 

"So, why Eren of all people?" he suddenly asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I could care less who Jaeger chooses to shack up with, but, I got the feeling you didn't really hold the highest opinion of him yesterday." 

"What gave you _that_ idea?" Levi asked sarcastically. 

"You called him stupid in French." Jean smirked. "I can't speak french fluently, but I understand it and can speak it well enough to get me by." he preened. 

It took all of Levi's willpower to resist the urge to roll his eyes, because he honestly didn't give a fuck if Jean could understand when he insulted people in his native tongue or not. 

"I say you and I just insult Jaeger in french whenever he's being a little dick. He'll be so confused." Jean guffawed and Levi decided to indulge him. 

" _N’importe quoi…_ " ( _"Whatever..."_ )

Jean's amber eyes sparked with amusement, "So, you didn't answer my question. Why Eren?" 

Levi spared Jean a jaded look from the corner of his eyes before he was taking another long sip of his watered down Bourbon. 

"... I have my reasons." was all he bothered to say. 

"Oh, come on." the taller male snorted. "You don't have to worry about talking shit about him to me. Eren and I have never gotten along and we probably never will. He may be Mikasa's brother, but that doesn't mean I have to like him." 

Levi shrugged, "I talk shit about everyone all of the time, not just Eren. I'm not scared of insulting him or anyone." 

"Good," Jean nodded. "I mean, I wouldn't wish anything bad on the idiot, but sometimes..." the taller man paused to sigh heavily and frown. "He can really be a handful. He worries Mikasa nonstop. It's frustrating." 

"I can imagine," Levi commented dryly.

"So, you're really not worried about Eren and Annie?" 

Levi sighed because he really wished everyone would just drop this fucking subject already. He was feeling bad enough as it was about this whole situation, he didn't need Mikasa and Jean adding to his stress. 

"No. Should I be?" the raven asked casually. 

"I don't know. I don't make it my business to meddle in Eren's private affairs but I know enough about Annie and Eren's not-break-up through Mikasa. She's never really liked Annie. Probably why she was being a little sharp with you over how casual you're being about Eren talking to her by himself." Jean gave Levi a surprisingly apologetic smile and the older man took a moment to try and understand the meaning of that silent apology.

Seeing the frustrated look on Jean's face as he talked about his wife worrying about her brother constantly had Levi rethinking his original impression of the arrogant man. Was Jean a little too pretentious? Sure. But he could clearly see it in the way he talked about Mikasa that underneath all that annoying conceited behavior, he cared about his wife, at least. That earned him at least 1 point in Levi's book but that's it. 

Then, out of the corner of his eyes, Levi saw Mikasa ascending the stairs with an irritable looking Eren following behind her and a stone-faced Annie right behind him. He could hear Mikasa and Eren bickering quietly to each other before she did a B-line straight for Levi and Jean and the raven felt his heart tighten. He wasn't ready for this shit yet. 

"Where are you going?" Jean asked when Levi suddenly turned to walk past him. 

"To take a shit." Levi said offhandedly, and didn't even stop walking to look back when he heard Jean make a choked laughing noise before he was gone. 

Levi power-walked his way into the first bathroom on the ground floor, which was a half-bath. He shut the door behind him and locked it before he leaned over the sink and took steadying breaths, in and out, in and out. 

He could feel the beginnings of another panic attack happening, but he was trying his best to calm himself down. Now was not the time or place to be having yet another attack when there was absolutely no reason for him to be freaking out in the first place. 

Why was he even freaking out at all? Just because Eren was talking to his ex? That didn't mean shit to him. Whether or not Eren still had feelings for his ex-girlfriend or not was none of his fucking concern and he honestly did not care... except... he did, and he didn't fucking understand _why_! 

"Okay," he reasoned with himself quietly. "Okay, you're fine." he repeated. "It's just the stupid feelings of someone who's become too co-dependent on something. Like a heroine addict."

Fuck, how messed up was it that Levi was using a Heroine junkie as comparison to how he was feeling right now? That was definitely the most fucked up thing he's ever thought about himself. 

"Calm down," he instructed himself in a surprisingly calm tone. "Just, calm down. You're fine. You're okay. You're in control." 

Levi took a few more deep, calming breathes and he soon he was starting to feel the anxiety building in his chest start to wane and he could relax just a bit. 

Straightening up from his bent position over the sink, Levi looked himself over in the mirror and smoothed down non-existent wrinkles in his shirt and slacks before he decided he would definitely need more alcohol to get him through his evening. It was just sort of a bad thing that Levi had such a high alcohol tolerance, because he didn't even feel the tiniest little bit of a buzz from the glass of Bourbon he'd drank.

\- X -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who had to split this chapter into two parts again? THIS GIRL! -points to self-  
> As much as I wanted to post this chapter as a whole, that shit was obviously IMPOSSIBLE. Just look at all the shit that is happening in ONE FUCKING DAY!! 
> 
> Poor Levi, though. Just can't catch a break :'C 
> 
> The last half of this chapter is un-beta'd, so, if it's shit, I apologize! My wonderful Waifu was not available to read it before I'm posting it because I'm an impatient shit who wanted to post a new chapter before the weekend comes.


	8. Maybe I'm Just As Scared As You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter coming up. The highly anticipated part two of the last chapter! (There seem to be a lot of part 2's, hm?)
> 
> Once again, a lot is happening here. I don't think I need to put any warning for Anxiety/Panic attacks in this chapter because, well, there aren't any but it is heavy on the feels? So, yeah. Should be pretty safe to read.

By the time Levi had returned outside, Eren was standing with his group of friends and chatting and laughing casually. For some reason, Levi just really didn't want to be around Eren and his friends right now. Just the thought alone was giving Levi chest pains. It was ridiculous. 

So, instead, Levi walked over to some of the patio furniture and he took a seat while cradling the new glass of Bourbon he'd gotten for himself, courtesy of the decanter at the bar. 

The raven just couldn't understand why he was suddenly feeling so... insecure about Eren. It wasn't like there was anything between them; Levi didn't really _expect_ Eren to be a certain way with him or to stick by his side the entire evening. He wasn't a little kid who needed his hand to be held. 

Yet, he couldn't help the mild sensation of rejection and guilt he got from thinking about Annie and Eren together. Questions floated through his brain only worsening these feelings. Did Eren still have feelings for his ex? If he didn't have to pretend that he was engaged to Levi, would he try again with Annie? 

And that was another thing. Levi was now feeling like the world's biggest burden all of sudden whenever he thought about how negatively he was probably impacting Eren's life because of this lie. 

Before this trip, Levi hadn't thought twice about the possible consequences that this fake relationship would have on Eren's life because he hadn't _met_ Eren's entire fucking family and all his friends yet. He had been totally oblivious to the fact that Eren was a different person when he wasn't in the office running errands for him and just over all being Levi's doormat. 

But, now that he had come to Germany and met Eren's mother and gotten to know some of the most important people in his young assistant's life, Levi couldn't help but feel like this horrible monster who was just crashing in and destroying everything. How could Eren do anything but resent him after all this over and done with? The thought alone made his heart sink.

He took long, deliberate sips of his Bourbon, hoping that he could drown all his self-loathing in liquor but that would probably take about four metric fuck-tons of booze just to do. What he wouldn't do to have Hanji and Erwin just swoop in and carry him away like a bald eagle would it's prey. 

"Levi?" Eren's voice called. 

" _What_?" Levi snapped harshly without really meaning to. He had been caught off guard by the sound of Eren saying his name and snapping him out of his darkening thoughts. The harshness of his tone shown all over the brunet's face when Levi finally dared to look up at him. Eren looked like a child about to be reprimanded for something. "Sorry. I'm just a little tired." the raven sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and massaging it. 

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. You went inside the house so suddenly. I... thought something might have been up."

Levi watched as his young Assistant sat across from him and stared at Levi with deep concern etched onto his youthfully handsome face. That expression just served to make Levi feel worse because he knew he wasn't deserving of Eren's concern at all. He didn't understand why the brunet was even tolerating him and his random fucking mood swings anymore. 

"I'm fine." The raven said in a clipped tone. "Go back with your friends." 

And apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because Eren's concerned expression quickly turned into one of slight hurt and indignation. 

"No." he said firmly, causing Levi to glower at him. "Not until you tell me what's wrong." 

"I said I'm _fine_ , Eren."

" _No_ , you're not!" the brunet insisted on fighting him. 

Sighing, Levi forced himself to take a couple of moments to regroup before he started up a pointless and very childish argument with his younger Assistant. He really didn't think he could handle being around Eren right now. His own guilt and self-hatred wouldn't allow it. 

"I told you," he started once more, this time successfully not making any eye contact with Eren at all. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day." 

Eren stayed silent but Levi didn't have to hear him put how annoyed he was with him into words. Levi already knew he was being unreasonable, but he couldn't help it, it was just the way he was around people he felt uncomfortable around. Hanji liked to joke that Levi used the cold shoulder and rejection as a defense mechanism, and damn it all if she wasn't right. 

He only hoped that if he kept pretending like Eren was invisible and didn't acknowledge his existence, the brunet would eventually give up and finally leave him the hell alone. 

"Fine," came Eren's much too calm and patient voice. "I'll stop asking you, _for now_. But I just want to let you know that you can't fool me, Levi. I know when you're pissed off and when you're upset about something. You're not that great of an actor." 

The raven didn't bother to deign that with a response, because he was internally torn about what he should think about those words. One part of him vehemently wanted to deny that Eren knew jack shit about him at all; How could he? Just because he'd bore the brunt of most of Levi's irritability and anger over the last two and half years whenever something went wrong at work? That didn't mean he knew Levi's moods because that's all he'd ever known Levi to be was angry and pissed off all the time. 

But another part, a much quieter part of his himself, thought what Eren said held some truth to it. Like he wanted to _believe_ that his Assistant had even the smallest inkling about him and just understood that Levi needed his space right now. 

"I'm gonna go talk to my friends, but don't think I'm not gonna get to the bottom of this eventually. This isn't over." and then Levi could see Eren's figure stand up from his spot seated across from him and walk out of his peripheral vision. 

With a deep intake of air, Levi closed his eyes and just took a moment to settle his beating heart. Whether his heart was racing from Eren's words or from the leftover anxiety from earlier's attack, he couldn't really tell, nor did he really want to know the answer to. He just wanted five minutes where he could stop thinking about Eren and his family and this whole fucking situation, that's all. Was that too much to ask for? 

"Hey," a new, feminine voice greeted him cheerfully. 

If Levi could, he would be showing his middle finger to the universe because apparently asking for five whole minutes to himself was too much to ask for. 

Grey eyes slowly opened to see big brown eyes staring back at him in Hanji's younger, miniature version of herself. Eren's younger cousin Sasha sat across from him with a plate of all kinds of food in her lap and her cheeks nearly stuffed like a chipmunks before she swallowed and smiled at him. Levi sighed and resigned himself to this fate. 

"You didn't forget who I am already did you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side and giving Levi a worrying look. 

"Sasha," Levi grunted. "Right?" 

The young brunette sitting across from him lit up like a sparkler on the Fourth of July at him remembering her name. 

"Yeah!!" she cheered excitedly. "But I told you, just call me Sash! We're practically family, after all." 

Levi said nothing to that, instead catching a flash of blonde hair from the corner of his eye prompting him to involuntarily look up and see that it was Annie approaching Eren and his group of friends who all greeted her enthusiastically. Eren was all smiles as he casually placed a hand on the small of her back and Levi quickly looked away. 

Well, at least Eren was on friendly terms with his ex, right? That meant he could stop worrying about getting his ass kicked. 

"Trouble in paradise?" Sasha asked around a mouthful of food. Her eyes were trained intensely on Levi causing him to feel like he was under some kind of scientific observation.

"What makes you say that?" Levi deflected, taking a sip of his Bourbon and doing his best to focus on the burning sensation that tickled the back of his throat. 

"Because you're sitting here by yourself instead of being with Eren." she pointed out. "Is it because of Annie?" 

Levi tried not to show any kind of reaction to Sasha's question, because it was a little too accurate for his comfort. Instead, he took another long drink of his Bourbon and hoped the alcohol started taking affect soon because he was not drunk enough for this conversation right now. 

"Not really." he said dryly, and technically he wasn't lying. He was more upset with himself than with Annie or Eren. 

"You know, I wouldn't worry about it." Sasha reassured him. "I think what you and Eren have is something really special. I've known him my entire life and I know what his relationship was like with Annie. They were a cute couple, but I've never seen Eren fuss over Annie the way he fusses over you." 

Grey eyes flickered to catch on glittering dark browns and Sasha nodded her head as if to confirm her own theory. 

"That's where you're wrong," Levi couldn't help but snort as he took another sip of his drink. He was quickly starting to lose the urge to even drink liquor anymore. It just wasn't doing it for him. "Eren doesn't worry about me at all." 

"And yet," Sasha sang, her big eyes slowly trailing back to catch Eren staring at the two of them with a mild look of concern on his face. "He's been looking over and staring at you for the past three minutes since I sat down." 

"That's because he's scared I'll say something offensive to you and hurt your feelings." The raven scoffed. 

Levi heard Sasha giggle at his words but he simply rested one of his elbows on his crossed knee while he propped his chin up in his palm and turned to look in the opposite direction of Eren and his group of friends. 

"You're funny, Levi." the young girl's smile widened. "I like you. I think you and Eren are gonna be just fine." 

The older man let out a little disbelieving snort through his nose and Sasha's smile turned softer and her eyes impossibly sweet. 

"I really do mean it, ya know. I've never seen Eren worry so much about anyone before. Usually, it's always someone else worrying about Eren. So, I think this is a good change for him." then she winked his way and Levi rolled his eyes. "Now he has someone he can take care of." 

Levi shook his head a little at that, but it was more out of fond exasperation than because he was disagreeing. Why did all of Eren's family members have to be so goddamn caring and nice? This was just making him feel worse about this whole situation. 

"But, just so you know. You or Eren could always come to me or my Con-Bon for marriage advice. We've been married for two years after all!" Sasha chirped, looking a little starry-eyed at the mention of her shorter husband. 

"I don't think that's entirely a good idea," Levi murmured. 

"Why's that?" the brunette asked with all the innocent curiosity of a fucking four-year-old. Great, now he was going to make her cry or something and he'll feel even more guilty. 

"Because you're still in the honey-moon phase. Of course, everything is all hunky-dory for you and your... Connie." he explained awkwardly. 

"So?" 

"... So? So, any advice you have for Eren and I would be pretty pointless right now." 

Sasha gave an unflattering sort of snort laugh and it startled Levi to the point of downright staring at her in disbelief at the piggish noise that just came out of this human girl. 

"Nuh-uh!" She disagreed childishly. "Connie and I have been dating since we were fifteen! We have PLENTY of experience when it comes to commitments and relationships!" Sasha puffed her chest out and lifted her chin up in a superior pose and Levi couldn't help but smirk at her. 

"Alright, calm down, Potato-girl. I'll take your word for it." 

Sasha tilted her head in confusion at Levi's new nickname for her, her pony tail falling to the side as well. 

"Potato-girl?" she asked adorably oblivious. 

"Yeah, Potato-girl. You've got one side of your plate nearly overflowing with potatoes while the other half is all meat. Meat-girl sounds a bit weird, don't you think?" 

Sasha was immediately dissolving into a fit of giggles causing some of the eyes in the room to look over and stare at them. Levi caught a glimpse of Carla Jaeger giving him a fond and loving look before she was scurrying off into the kitchen and coming back out with an old Polaroid Camera and snapping a picture of Levi's rather unimpressed face and Eren's younger cousin Sasha struggling for air while doubled over with laughter.

Levi blinked away the little colorful dots in his eyes after the flash had gone off and then Carla was coming up to the two of them while shaking the still developing Polaroid.

"Forgive me for the surprise snap shot, Mäuschen. You two just looked so cute together." the older brunette explained while Sasha was getting her breathing under control. 

The raven wasn't entirely sure how he felt about having his picture randomly taken while he was caught off-guard, but there was really nothing he could do about it now. He was forever immortalized in some family album the Jaeger's kept, no doubt. Wasn't that a lovely thought? He'd never been part of a family album before and now, unfortunately he was. 

The ringing of his phone caused Levi to startle, and he was quickly reaching into his pant pockets to fish it out. He didn't even need to look at the caller I.D. to know that it was Hanji calling him. 

"Excuse me, it's a work call." Levi explained, politely excusing himself from Carla and Sasha's company. Who said he didn't know what manners were? "Levi Ackerman," he answered very professionally, despite knowing very well it wasn't a business call. 

_"Well, hey there, hot stuff. How's it going over there with the Jaeger clan?"_ Hanji's chipper voice was like a huge breath of relief to hear. 

" **Ne raccrochez pas.** " he instructed his longtime friend firmly, knowing she'd understand him with no problems. ( _"Don't hang up."_ )

" _Ohh, if you're speaking french to me it's because you can't say something out loud in english! You with the whole family, then?_ " 

" **Oui.** " 

" _"Okay, so how's it going? You didn't sound too hot when we talked last time._ "

Levi glanced around quickly and caught Eren walking up to his mother and Sasha and asking them something, all the while shifting his attention between Levi and his mother. The raven decided to take his phone call somewhere a little more private, so he walked toward the stairs that led down into the garden and descended them. 

"It's absolute shit." he said, switching to English as soon as he was sure no one could hear him.

" _That bad?_ " Hanji said with a low whistle. " _What happened?_ "

"Well, I had to kiss him." Levi said without missing a beat. 

" _YOU WHAT!??!_ " came a shriek that nearly ruptured Levi's eardrum. " _OH, MY GOD, LEVI!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW-- ERWIN! ERWIN!!! LEVI AND EREN KISSED!!_ " 

" _What!?_ " Erwin's voice sounded from the background.

" _You owe me a new pair of shoes, Pooh Bear!_ " 

Levi grimaced at Hanji's use of a lame pet name for her husband and decided he should probably put a stop to this conversation before Erwin started pitching in with his own horribly sweet pet names for Hanji. He swore, his two best friends were the worst at coming up with nicknames for each other. 

"You made a bet about whether or not Eren and I would kiss on this fucking trip?" he growled into the phone. 

Levi was now anxiously pacing the cobblestone path that led deeper into the garden and he was distantly reminded about the fact that Eren and Annie had been down here earlier talking. He promptly ignored the little sharp twist in his gut at that thought. 

" _You bet your cute ass we did. Erwin was being a pessimistic jerk and bet that you would probably treat Eren like you usually do while in the office, while I bet that you would totally crack under the pressure of having to show off for his parents and that you'd eventually kiss!! I WON!_ " 

Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes, "You're both idiots. I'm kicking both of your asses as soon as I'm back in the city." 

" _Fine, fine. But for now, You have to give me all the dirty details!_ " 

"Levi?" Eren's voice calling for him had Levi sucking his teeth in annoyance. Couldn't he catch a fucking break here? He couldn't even have a phone call in peace.

" **Mais en pas trop. On as juste frenché.** " ( _"Don't exaggerate. We only kissed."_ ) he explained, lowering his voice a bit as Eren rounded a Topiary hedge and spotted him.

" _Is that Eren!? Ooh, is he there now?_ "

" **Tch, Oui, il est là.** " ( _"Yes, he's here."_ )

" _TELL HIM I SAID HI!!_ " 

Levi turned his back to Eren who was standing near an archway covered entirely of ivy vines. 

" **Ferme ta gueule, Tu es une petite merde, T’sais?** " ( _"Shut the fuck up, you're a little shit, you know?"_ ) Levi grumbled.

Hanji's laughter crackled through the phone line, " _Ouais, enfin…faut vivre avec! We'll talk later, Munchkin! Go kiss your Fiance!_ " And before Levi could even get a word in, the line went dead. ( _"Yeah, well... you'll just have to live with it!"_ )

He cursed under his breath and barely refrained from chucking his phone into the nearby lake. Hanji and Erwin were going to get a nice good ass kicking as soon as he was back home. 

"Is... everything alright, Levi?" 

Right. He'd almost forgotten about Eren. Out of frustration, Levi ran a hand through his fringe, successfully pushing it back out of his face until it all came flopping back down again. 

"Just peachy." he said through gritted teeth. 

"Mom said you got a call from Work. Was it Nile?" and Levi wished Eren didn't use such a concerned fucking voice while asking him about his phone call. 

"Would I be fucking talking to Nile Dok in French?" Levi scoffed, keeping his back facing the brunet so that he wouldn't have to see Eren's stupidly attractive face. "Use your brain, Jaeger." 

"Well, then who was it?" Ah, Levi noted with some twisted amusement. Eren sounded like he was starting to get impatient with him now. 

The raven took a moment to just stare out toward the lake front in silence before he finally turned and faced his Assistant who was looking more than a little annoyed by now. Levi assessed him with a cool gaze before he started walking past the still waiting brunet. 

"It's none of your business who I speak on the phone with." he said dismissively. 

As he brushed past Eren, the younger man gripped his bicep firmly and stopped him from going any further. Levi glared at the large hand wrapped around his arm before he scowled up at his Assistant. 

"Why are you being such a fucking asshole?" Eren nearly yelled. "I thought we were finally getting past all this shit! This morning you were acting like a decent human being for a change and then this afternoon, you actually told me 'Thank you' but now you're back to being a dick and treating me like I'm just some dog shit on the bottom of your shoe you need to scrape off! Just fucking _talk_ to me, Levi!" 

"You thought wrong, Jaeger." Levi growled back. Why couldn't Eren just understand that Levi needed to be away from him right now? He was feeling way too many confusing things concerning Eren and he just needed to be on his own for a couple of fucking hours to sort himself out! "If you thought we were suddenly becoming friends or some shit like that, you're mistaken. You think just because you told me about your ex-girlfriend that I'm gonna start opening up and telling you shit? Think again. I'm only playing nice because your mother is a goddamn angel on earth and I'm not heartless enough to offend her when she's been nothing but kind to me." 

" _Oh _, Well, at least that's good to know! What happened to 'I'm a human being with emotions, too.', huh? Because you sure aren't acting like one right now! In fact, you're acting just like a cold, heartless hunk of metal!"__

__Levi felt his heart ache painfully at Eren's accusing words, because he was right. But Levi didn't know how to _not_ act like a cold, heartless hunk of metal. Pretending he had no emotions had become a necessary survival skill for him because Levi had never been able to trust anyone before; that's just not how he was raised. And the few people he did come to trust with all his darkest secrets were either all dead or kept at arm's length because everything good in Levi's life was _always_ ripped from him and he was _terrified_ of losing everything all over again. _ _

__So he put up thick walls and made sure nobody could break them down and he chased away anyone who tried worming their way in because it was just easier for him to do. The less people he let in, the less hurt he caused himself. The risk of letting Eren and his family in was much too great, and Levi knew it would probably only spell disaster for him in the future. So, if he had to act like an emotionless machine to keep his sanity, then he would do just that._ _

__Eren seemed to take his prolonged silence as a sign that he had definitely said something he shouldn't have and he was immediately loosening his firm grip on Levi's bicep while his angry expression smoothed out and morphed into one of slight consternation and extreme worry._ _

__"Sorry," he mumbled out a quick apology. "I didn't mean--... I was just trying to say that..." and then the brunet was trailing off with a heavy sigh._ _

__"Don't apologize." Levi spat. "I know what you were trying to say. In fact, you said it perfectly the first time around."_ _

__"Levi, I didn't mean to say you don't have any emotions or feelings of your own. I just meant to say that--"_ _

__"Forget it, Jaeger." the raven interrupted in a clipped tone before he was slipping his arm out of Eren's loosened grasp. "I don't have the energy for this. Let's just go back to the party and put on a good act for your friends and family. I'm capable of doing at least _that_ much." _ _

__He turned, crossing his arms over his chest, lightly tracing over his bicep where Eren had gripped him moments ago. Levi grimaced when he pressed down a little too hard on his bicep. No doubt, he'd probably have some light bruising there tomorrow._ _

__"Levi!" Eren's frustrated voice called after him, but the raven ignored him in favor of ascending the staircase alone._ _

__He was determined to put distance between himself and Eren again, but this time, he would make sure the brunet wouldn't be able to corner him alone._ _

__Upon rejoining the party, Levi was immediately approached by the second person he really didn't want to see right now. Eren's ex nonchalantly stepped toward him not even two seconds after he'd finished ascending the steps. Seeing her up close, Levi had to reconfirm with himself that Annie was indeed a very pretty girl, although her slightly hooked nose was a bit of a deal breaker for him, personally. Otherwise, she was very attractive with those icy blue eyes and her near platinum blonde hair. Plus, she was very petite. He could see why Sasha thought Annie and Eren looked 'cute' together. They were simply aesthetically pleasing to look at._ _

__"You're Eren's Fiance, Levi." It wasn't phrased as a question, but rather, an obvious fact. "Can we talk?"_ _

__The raven noted with some mild curiosity that Annie was definitely the most stone-faced person he'd ever met, including himself. Fuck, even the way she spoke was monotonous and uncaring of anything._ _

__At the sound of another pair of footsteps ascending the stairs, Levi glanced over his shoulder and saw Eren practically bulldozing his way toward him and that was all the incentive Levi needed to take Annie up on her request to go and talk somewhere else despite the fact that he really did not want to fucking chat with Eren's ex-girlfriend right now. It beat him having to deal with a very stubborn and determined Eren Jaeger._ _

__"Fine," Levi began. "Let's talk somewhere else, though."_ _

__Annie simply blinked her near colorless eyes at him before she was turning and leading him to another part of the deck where there was much fewer people around. He passed a worried looking Carla and a slightly annoyed looking Mikasa, but Levi kept his face blank of any emotions and kept his stare focused straight ahead of him._ _

__The blonde led him to a corner part of the deck where there was a pair of wooden benches facing parallel each other. She took one bench while Levi took the other, and it was then that he realized he had left his abandoned drink on the bench he was sitting at earlier where Sasha had been. With nothing for his hands to hold or do, Levi simply kept his arms crossed tightly over his chest while he crossed one knee over the other and waited for Annie to speak first._ _

__Annie seemed to be quietly scrutinizing him from head to toe before she decided she'd studied him enough and she met his jaded gaze with one of her own._ _

__"Did you get into an argument because of me?" she asked, startling Levi a bit. He had not been expecting such a straightforward question from her._ _

__"No," Levi answered bluntly. "Who said we were arguing in the first place?"_ _

__Annie was having none of his sarcasm, "Because I've been watching you for awhile now and you've been intentionally ignoring Eren and brushing him off. Also, I know him better than most people. He's not the type of person to tolerate being ignored-- especially not by his own Fiance."_ _

__"Good to know we're being watched," the raven frowned. "Get to the point. You didn't come to ask me if we could talk just to state the obvious."_ _

__At the approving look in her ice blue eyes, Levi figured he and Annie probably weren't so different in terms of keeping their emotions in check. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one acting like a cold, heartless hunk of metal. Annie did a damn good job._ _

__"I just wanted to talk to you and make sure you weren't acting this way because of me. I'm not hung up on Eren and I already forgave him for leaving without telling me anything. It was three years ago. I've moved on and I'm just glad to see that he has too." The blonde glanced over to where Carla and Mikasa had been sitting at a round patio table and Levi followed her gaze. Eren looked like he was having a very heated conversation with his mother who was definitely upset at him about something while Mikasa was mostly indifferent but silently rubbing one of Eren's arms in a soothing gesture. "He talked about you a lot, you know. He thinks very highly of you."_ _

__At her words, Levi gave a disbelieving snort._ _

__"I can't imagine why," he murmured. "I've been told I'm a very hard person to deal with."_ _

__"He didn't seem to think of you that way." Annie shot back almost immediately. "I'm not trying to meddle in your relationship. That's not my style." Ice blues regarded Levi coolly and the raven arched one thin eyebrow at her in question. "I just need you to understand something about Eren. He's the most stubborn person I've ever met in my life, as I'm sure you're aware."_ _

__Levi rolled his eyes, "That's an understatement, but yes, I'm painfully aware."_ _

__"Good," the blonde said as she suddenly stood up to take her leave. "Then it'll be easier if you stop shutting him out because he'll just batter his way in eventually. He has a way of wearing people down with his fierce determination."_ _

__With her peace said, Annie left Levi to rejoin the rest of the party. The raven watched her go before sighing and taking a minute to let what Annie said sink in. She had basically just said what Levi has been telling himself out loud for the past hour; he was being unreasonable and stupid for trying to put distance between himself and Eren._ _

__"Dude," a new voice broke through Levi's thoughts. "You look like you need a beer."_ _

__The raven looked up in time to see Connie and Reiner standing in front of him with Connie holding a beer in one hand and Reiner handing him one. Levi eyed the offered beverage skeptically before he refused._ _

__"I'll pass, thanks."_ _

__"Come on, man." Reiner tried coaxing him. "You clearly need it. Have you even had German Beer before?"_ _

__Levi narrowed his eyes at the burly blond, "What's the difference? Beer is beer."_ _

__"And that just proves he's never had German before." Connie snorted taking a sip of his own beer._ _

__"Just try it, Levi." Reiner grinned. "If you don't like it after a couple of sips, you don't have to drink it."_ _

__Boy, didn't Levi feel like he was under peer pressure here. He didn't understand why Reiner and Connie were being so adamant about him drinking their beer. It's not like it would get him any more buzzed than the Bourbon would. It was times like these he wished he had a low alcohol tolerance instead of a high one. He'd give anything to be blissfully plastered and unable to recall tonight's events in the morning._ _

__"Fine," he relented. Levi took the offered beer out of Reiner's hand and eyed the dark glass bottle dubiously; he'd never been much of a beer drinker, even when he was in college._ _

__Popping the top, Levi took his first swig and immediately regretted it. It took a lot of effort on his part just to swallow the first mouthful down, but when he finally did, Levi was so very tempted to tip the bottle over and drain the rest of it out into a nearby rose bush._ _

__"Man, he took that like a champ." Reiner chuckled._ _

__"Yeah, a smaller sip might have been a better idea." Connie laughed, looking a little apologetic and nervous. "Maybe we should have warned him, Reiner."_ _

__"Nah, he'll be fine. In a minute the alcohol will hit his system and he'll thank us."_ _

__"Can you both stop talking about me like I'm not even here?" Levi grunted, only barely stopping himself from grimacing as he swallowed again._ _

__"So, how was it?" Reiner prompted eagerly. "Better than the shit we have in the states?"_ _

__Levi frowned but eyed his beer bottle curiously. True, he wasn't much of a beer drinker at all, but after the first initial tasting, the raven was a bit clueless on how he felt about German beer in comparison to the very little knowledge and experience he had with American beer. But, this was a whole conversation he didn't really want to get into; he just wanted to get drunk._ _

__"I wouldn't be able to tell you, honestly. I've drank nothing but liquor and Whiskey most of my adult life. Compared to the best top shelf Whiskey? This is nothing, but it definitely has a certain... _quality_ to it." _ _

__Reiner and Connie exchanged clueless looks, which prompted Levi to roll his eyes and stand up from his spot on the bench. Now that he took the time out to notice, he hadn't even realized it was already nearly dark outside. It had to have been passed 7 p.m. for sure. Another hour and maybe he'd be able to get away with leaving the party early._ _

__"Whatever, man." Reiner laughed with a swat to Levi's back. "I'll take that as a compliment anyway."_ _

__Levi said nothing as he squared his shoulders and left Reiner and Connie's company to join Carla who was sitting on a comfortable looking lounge chair while fanning herself a bit._ _

__"Oh, Mäuschen. Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked with a slightly tired smile._ _

__Levi shrugged while lifting the bottle in his hand to show her. "According to Eren's friends, after I drink this beer I should be on cloud nine."_ _

__Carla eyed the dark bottle before she smiled and shook her head in fond amusement._ _

__"Yes, well, be careful. Reiner tends to go a little overboard sometimes. If you don't want to drink anymore, you don't have to, love."_ _

__Levi gave her a small grateful smile as he took a seat across from the brunette._ _

__"Don't worry," he said, tiny smile turning into a confident smirk. "I'm sure I could out drink all of these brats."_ _

__Carla shot him a challenging look before she threw her head back in a laugh and Levi could feel some of earlier's tension leaving his body. Whether it was because he's talked to Annie and gotten some closure he wasn't even aware he needed about something he couldn't even explain to himself, or it was the beer finally spreading through his system; Levi was finally relaxing and enjoying the sweet Mrs. Jaeger's company._ _

__Before he knew it, Levi had finished his first beer and Reiner was no sooner handing him a new one. He talked with Carla and occasionally Mikasa who stopped by to ask her mother something in German before disappearing somewhere again, but for the most part, Levi was okay with this set up._ _

__Occasionally, he would see Eren talking with his friends or dancing to some Arctic Monkey's song and they would make eye contact. While Eren didn't look as determined to come and talk to him again, Levi could still see a sort of eagerness in the way he stared at Levi and then look away fidgeting. He was so easy to read._ _

__But, thankfully, he left Levi alone for awhile, which was all the raven had asked for from the start. A little time away from his Assistant who's mere presence awakened strange feelings in him that even Levi couldn't explain._ _

__Sasha's husband Connie had pulled out an old acoustic guitar from somewhere, and he sat a little further away from Levi and Carla holding the damn thing and attempting to play it with all the grace of a cat with no disposable thumbs. He was awful at it._ _

__Eventually, Levi got fed up with it had to stand up and ask for the instrument because clearly Connie had no idea how to fucking play it, let alone try and fucking check if it was even tuned._ _

__"First of all," Levi started. "You were holding it wrong, dipshit. Always keep your thumb hidden behind the neck. It should never be seen. You've got to really press the strings into the wood of the neck, otherwise it'll sound like shit when you strum."_ _

__Connie, Reiner and Bert surrounded Levi as the raven slipped the strap around his body and watched in varying levels of amazement as he tuned the guitar note by note. Once the tuning satisfied Levi, he tested it out by playing the first few notes of a couple of songs._ _

__"Dude," Reiner grinned widely. "You're like crazy good with that thing. None of us can play it for shit."_ _

__"Clearly," Levi deadpanned._ _

__Satisfied with the tuning, Levi removed the guitar strap and handed the instrument to Reiner who seemed eager to give it a crack. Although, Levi had no intentions to stick around and listen to Reiner's horrible guitar skills and his even worse singing voice._ _

__By the time Levi was starting on his third beer, he was pleasantly buzzed and considerably calmer than he'd been in... well, even Levi couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this calm and relaxed. Whatever Reiner and Connie were giving him, it was working miracles on the raven and he couldn't possibly be more grateful._ _

__At some point in the evening, Eren had come and sat next to Levi while he was distracted listening to Eren's mother retell a story of when she was a teenager. There was a small crowd surrounding her, including Eren's two cousins Bertholdt and Sasha, with their respective partners (Connie and Reiner sans guitar). Levi hadn't noticed Eren sitting next to him until the brunet had suddenly leaned in and spoke in a low tone next to his ear._ _

__"I didn't know you could play guitar." he'd said, his warm breath tickling the shell of Levi's ear and sending shivers through him._ _

__He turned his head, only to be met with Eren's gorgeous face mere inches from his. He stared into Eren's oceans for eyes just taking in the faint little specks of gold and brown that were sprinkled through out the forest greens and deep blues. Levi swallowed, and to his own ears, it sounded more like a very loud gulp._ _

__"You never asked." Was Levi's clever answer._ _

__"Touche." The brunet smiled. "Ready to finish that talk now?"_ _

__Levi took another moment to stare at Eren's face, no longer feeling the urge to kiss the idiot now that he'd ruined the moment by asking that stupid ass question. He rolled his grey eyes and turned away from him before answering._ _

__"No."_ _

__He heard Eren give an annoyed huff at his answer, but the younger man didn't try dragging this conversation out. Then, as Levi looked back at Carla, he caught the woman watching their exchange with extreme interest and something akin to mischief in her warm golden eyes again. She smiled innocently at him before she was yelling something out in German again and all of Eren's friends and family were cheering while he heard Eren curse under his breath._ _

__Then, they started singing a very familiar song and Levi looked back to catch Carla clapping her hands and singing along with everyone else. The woman had clearly timed this so that Levi and Eren couldn't worm their way out of it. Levi sighed, because if this was anything like the first time they all sang this song, the raven would end up having to give Eren another halfhearted kiss just to placid his friends and family._ _

__Levi set his beer bottle down next to him and turned to look at Eren so he could prepare to grab the idiot and kiss him, because Eren sure as hell wasn't going to do it._ _

__So, it was to Levi's great surprise when he turned to face his Assistant, the brunet was looking at him with a mixed expression of annoyed exasperation and fierce determination._ _

__Eren didn't waste any time in grabbing Levi with one hand by the back of his neck while his other arm was snaking around Levi's waist and pulling the raven flush against Eren's chest. Then, Levi's mind went completely blank when he felt Eren's warm and familiar lips crashing onto his own, kissing him with more passion and fervor than Levi had ever been expecting at all._ _

__Call it instinct, but Levi ended up reaching up and cupping Eren's face in his hands as he immediately responded to the kiss, his eyes sliding shut. He could hear various whistles and cheers of encouragement coming from Eren's friends, no doubt, but it all sounded pretty muted in Levi's ears as his entire attention was focused on the hot pair of lips that were devouring his mouth so fiercely._ _

__Fuck, if this was how Eren kissed _all_ of the time, Levi wouldn't mind having to kiss his assistant for the sake of keeping their cover from now on. He'd never been kissed so desperately before, and there was a point where he thought he felt Eren's tongue running along his bottom lip but his brain was not at full capacity at the moment so he didn't bother putting too much attention to that. _ _

__Finally, Eren pulled away slowly but all too soon, and Levi was left just the slightest bit breathless afterwards. His heart was absolutely pounding in his ears drowning out the cat-calls and wolf whistles thrown at them from Eren's drunk friends. Levi caught Eren smoothing back some of his hair, because apparently Levi had allowed one of his hands to wander and run through Eren's hair at some point but he couldn't really be sure._ _

__"Now _that_ was a kiss," Levi distantly heard Sasha say before she dissolved into a fit of giggles. _ _

__"We got it on camera!!" someone else shouted, but Levi's head was still spinning and he wasn't sure if it was because of the beer or Eren's kiss._ _

__In the meantime, despite his distracted state, Levi cleared his throat loudly and smoothed down the front of his shirt just for the sake of having his hands do something, because he was just a little bit worried that if anyone was paying just a little too much attention to him, they'd notice the slight nervous tremble of his hands if he tried to keep them still._ _

__"Sorry," came Eren's gruff voice to his left, prompting Levi to look at him again. "I was still a little pissed off at you for earlier."_ _

__The older man got the feeling that angry sex with Eren would probably be _fantastic_ if that kiss was anything to go by. This train of thought was put to an immediate stop when Levi remembered where he was and how they most definitely were not in the appropriated atmosphere for such lewd thoughts. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. _ _

__"Eren," Levi said, his voice just a bit too soft at the moment. "I think I'm ready to have that talk now."_ _

__The absolute eager expression that overcame his Assistant almost had Levi rolling his eyes and scoffing. Eren was just like a little kid on Christmas. He was getting what he wanted, just like Annie had warned him. It seemed that trying to keep Eren from climbing over his walls was a pointless battle, and if he planned on getting through the rest of this weekend in one proverbial piece, it was better he just go with the flow Eren set._ _

__"Not here," Levi clarified before he stood up from his spot. "Don't follow me inside. Wait ten minutes and then meet me up in the bedroom."_ _

__Then the raven was effortlessly making his great escape from the raucous party of Eren's friends and family. Nobody seemed to notice he was leaving to go inside, either that or they just didn't care now that they had seen the 'happy couple' almost make out in front of them. Regardless, Levi managed to find his way through the large house and up the stairs to the bedroom._ _

__He was greeted by blissful silence for the first time in the past four hours, and Levi sighed with relief as he carelessly kicked his boots off and slightly stumbled into the room. Now that he was alone, Levi could feel the exhaustion hitting him and he barely had the energy to undress himself._ _

__In a vein attempt to postpone the daunting task, Levi dragged his tired carcass into the attached bathroom and took a few minutes to splash some cold water on his face and sober up from the pleasant buzz he'd been feeling the last hour or so. He wasn't _drunk_ , per say, but definitely tipsy. _ _

__He'd even taken the time to brush his teeth and relieve himself before eventually deciding there really wasn't much else he could do to delay going back out into the bedroom and stripping. Levi kept his mind carefully blank of any thoughts or recollections of the heated kiss he'd shared with Eren not ten minutes ago, lest he be plagued with even more inappropriate thoughts._ _

__It was as Levi was struggling to pull off his button up shirt that Eren knocked twice and waited a beat before entering the bedroom and seeing a tipsy Levi trying to pull a button up shirt over his head with some definite struggle._ _

__"Need some help with that, Boss?" came the brunet's amused question as he lingered by the door._ _

__"No," came Levi's muffled grunt as he finally freed himself of the constricting article of clothing. Givenchy or not, Levi tossed the shirt carelessly over a chair and didn't bother hanging it up or folding it at all. "Come in, shut the door."_ _

__Eren did as he was told and kicked off his own boots, much less haphazardly, before he moved to walk toward the center of the room. Levi noticed him trying really hard not to stare at his half naked body and all the tattoos that adorned pale skin._ _

__For the moment, Levi ignored his Assistant's presence and went about prepping his bed and glancing at the clock to see that it was a quarter past 10 p.m._ _

__Mock him all you wanted, but Levi had been up since before the fucking sun, so he was definitely beyond exhausted at this point. If he didn't have to have this god damn conversation with Eren tonight, he'd probably plop face first on the bed and sleep until he couldn't sleep anymore. It was still so odd to him that while staying with Eren's parents in their home, he'd gotten the best sleep he'd ever gotten and it came to him with no problems at all. He supposed it had more to do with both the emotional and mental toll it took on him to be around Eren's family in general. That was probably it._ _

__"Are you planning to talk or did you just say you would so you could trick me into letting you leave the party and come to bed?" Eren asked, his voice a little impatient._ _

__Levi shot him a glare that had the brunet looking away from him sheepishly, "I'll talk when I'm fucking ready."_ _

__Having silenced his Assistant, Levi finished moving his pillows and blankets around to his liking until it was all in a sort of nest and when he was satisfied with his handy work, the older man sighed and plopped down on the edge of the bed._ _

__He ran a hand through his hair until he reached the back of his head where the undercut was shaved. Running his fingers over the cropped hair helped calm some of Levi's nerves, because he wasn't exactly thrilled about any of this. Thankfully, Eren got comfortable in the chair where Levi had carelessly tossed his shirt over, folding it neatly and setting it aside to be put away later._ _

__Levi watched him move around out of the corner of his eye, "I think I should just start off by saying I'm not telling you any of this because I wanted to. If I could, I would definitely go the rest of my life without ever having to tell you any of this shit. But... your little friend Annie kind of made me see that I was being a complete idiot earlier and well, yeah, here we are."_ _

__"Levi," Eren said looking very concerned and maybe just a little bit guilty. "You don't have to tell me anything if you really don't want to. I'm not gonna force you. I just... I want you to understand that you can trust me."_ _

__"Eren," Levi stopped him before the brunet could go on with his own explanations and reasons. "This _is_ me trusting you. I figured we're probably both way past crossing a line here. I mean, we did just nearly make out in front of your mom and all your friends." _ _

__At the mention of the kiss, Eren blushed furiously and cleared his throat._ _

__"I said I was sorry, didn't I?" he grumbled._ _

__"Anyway," the raven continued. "You've already learned more about me than I ever cared for you to know, so, I'm going to trust you with more. Don't make me regret this decision, Jaeger."_ _

__Eren took a deep breath and showed Levi the most serious and thoughtful look he'd ever seen the brunet give to anyone. His eyes were big and sincere, practically screaming _'You can trust me'_ at him. Sighing once more, Levi settled in for a very uncomfortable conversation. _ _

__"Alright," he grunted. "I think I should start off by saying that I was an Orphan for most of my childhood. Hence, why I'm so awkward around your mother. I never got to know mine. From what I understand, she died soon after I was born. Nobody knew who my father was. You get the idea."_ _

__Eren was silent at this, but Levi could tell that he was already getting ready to start showing Levi that _'I'm so sorry'_ pitying look he hated to see so damn much. Erwin had done that shit to him the first time he learned of Levi's status as an Orphan, and the raven had punched him in the gut so hard that Erwin never dared show that he felt sorry for Levi ever again. _ _

__"Don't you dare start fucking giving me that look, Jaeger. If you're already feeling sorry for me now, it only gets worse from here. So, either cut it out or I promise I'll kick your ass."_ _

__He could have sworn he heard Eren gulp before the brunet was adjusting himself in his seat so that he could tuck one of his legs underneath him._ _

__"Sorry," Eren mumbled. "I was just surprised."_ _

__Levi hesitated, debating on whether or not he should continue, but, his exhaustion got the better of him and he just wanted to get all this out in the open so he could finally go to bed._ _

__"... Anyway, I was taken in by my Uncle on my mothers side, but he was a shit excuse of a guardian and basically didn't care what I did or where I went so I was alone a lot. I had to learn to fend for myself, and I did. I grew up in a city called Trois-Rivières in Quebec, but I ran away from there when my Uncle eventually disappeared on me. I got picked up and put in an orphanage when I was around fourteen after that."_ _

__Sighing, Levi started scrubbing his face with one hand because he always hated talking about this next part of his life. It was probably his most painful chapter._ _

__"You can imagine how hard it was for me to get adopted out by someone. I was too old already, therefore, I was often overlooked by a lot of the families who came to the agency to look for kids to adopt. I had already ended up in the states by then and I met up with another kid about my age named Farlan. He was abandoned just like me, so, we ended up becoming friends. We looked out for each other because kids who grew up in the system are often mistreated and abused and we weren't going to stand for that bullshit."_ _

__Levi felt his throat closing up a bit as he tried to force the next words out. He swallowed past a painful lump, because the name on the tip of his tongue was a name he hadn't said in a long time and it never got any easier._ _

__"We met another kid named Isabel, who was a year or two younger than us. She got bullied a lot and we protected her one day when some older kids were holding her down and cutting off one of her pigtails. After that, the three of us were inseparable. We stuck together like glue and we didn't let anyone fuck with us."_ _

__During his recollections of Isabel and Farlan, Levi didn't dare look up to see what kind of expression Eren had because at this point, Levi was barely holding on to his own emotions by a thread._ _

__"A lot of shit happened, and long story short, Isabel and Farlan ended up dying in an accident and it was all because of me. I've carried that guilt with me since I was seventeen, and that's when I got these tattoos."_ _

__He reached up and traced his fingers lightly over the magnolias on his right shoulder. Then, he squeezed his arm to try grounding himself._ _

__"Isabel's favorite flowers were Magnolias, so it was only the most obvious thing for me to have tattooed on my body. The french quote on my collarbone is for Farlan. It says **'I regret nothing.'** and it was always something he was telling me. The bird..." and Levi had to pause to take a deep breath. "The bird is a Tree Swallow. It was something I often saw as a child flying in the skies in Quebec when I would wander the streets. I always envied those birds for having wings and just being able to fly away to better places." _ _

__With another deep breath, Levi closed his eyes and dropped the hand that was squeezing his arm back to his side._ _

__"Hanji, Erwin and Mike from the office are the only people who know about my tattoos and about... everything else. I was in a really bad place after I lost Isabel and Farlan. I had been taken in by a foster family at that time, but I was always sneaking out and just overall causing them a lot of grief. I suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks all through Senior year of High School and College and I dealt with them by getting into trouble and smoking and drinking. I met Hanji and Erwin in my senior year of high school and they helped me get my shit together. Erwin helped me get a full ride through college thanks to a Scholarship I earned and I moved into a dorm on campus."_ _

__"After that, my life gradually got better. I tried to live as normally as I possibly could, and Hanji and Erwin quickly clung to me like a couple of leeches. I tried everything to get them to fuck off and leave me alone, but they're probably even more determined and stubborn than you are, Jaeger."_ _

__He heard Eren snort at that, and it gave Levi the confidence to keep going._ _

__"Mike, I meet in college. We dated for a little while, so naturally he knows about everything. But, I still struggled with my anxiety and my depression and I was just too insecure to be in a stable relationship. Our break up wasn't pretty and I can't exactly say we stayed friends."_ _

__"But, you both seem fine when you see each other at work." Eren pointed out, confused._ _

__The older man snorted, "Do you ever see us talking about anything other than work?"_ _

__"No."_ _

__"Have you ever seen us hanging out by the water cooler to chat?"_ _

__"...No."_ _

__"Well, there's your answer." Levi took another deep breath before he let it out in a heavy sigh. "I haven't been in another relationship since Mike, and I don't really plan to. I still have a lot of issues I'm working through and plus, I'm just comfortable being alone. I've been on my own for as long as I can remember and it's what I know. So, there you have it. My entire sob story on a silver platter. Eat your heart out."_ _

__The raven didn't bother to wait for some kind of response from his silent Assistant, because what the fuck do you say to someone who's just told you every sad thing that's happened to them? The answer was: Nothing and that was okay because Levi didn't want comfort. He didn't need it._ _

__He'd dealt with a lot of shit in his life and there had never been a single person waiting for him with open arms and kind words and that was _fine_. You couldn't miss what you never had. _ _

__"I'm going to bed." Levi announced as he stood up from the edge of the bed and started fluffing the pillows again. "Get out or go to sleep, Jaeger."_ _

__As he was busy fluffing his pillows, Levi was surprised by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his shoulders and the feel of a large, warm chest pressed against his bare back._ _

__"I know you said not to show you any pity or sympathy, but you honestly can't expect me to just walk out of this room after hearing that kind of story without doing _something_. So... just let me do at least this much." Eren murmured into his hair. _ _

__And Levi was so very tempted to twist around in Eren's arms to reach up and kiss this sentimental idiot because Levi had given him specific orders not to show him this kind of attention because _damn_ it, he didn't _need_ this. _ _

__The raven let his arms go limp by his sides, with the exception of one hand still gripping a pillow as he waited a few more seconds in the hopes that Eren would let him go soon. When Eren showed no signs of releasing him, Levi gripped the pillow a little tighter._ _

__"Eren," He called softly._ _

__"Yes?"_ _

__Then, Levi swiftly swung the pillow up and over the brunet's head and he heard a muffled 'Mmph!' when he hit his target head on. Eren finally released him, and to Levi's annoyance, he was giggling like an idiot._ _

__"Get out." The older man growled._ _

__"Or what? You'll hit me with another pillow?" his Assistant taunted him._ _

__"Out. Now."_ _

__Eren rounded the bed and started making his way toward the bedroom door with a stupid smirk on his face that had Levi wishing he could just wipe it off._ _

__"Don't deny it, Levi. You liked being hugged."_ _

__Levi quickly reached for another pillow and prepared to launch it at Eren's head, but the brunet was immediately bolting out the door and laughing loudly the whole way down the hall. The raven sighed, because Eren left the door wide open and Levi was forced to walk over to close it._ _

__"That idiot forgot his shoes." he noticed upon reaching the door and seeing the toppled boots._ _

__He shut the door and sauntered back to the bed before he plopped down face first and groaned at the idea of still having to take his pants off. Had anyone been witness to this, they would have probably gotten a rather hilarious sight of Levi lazily trying to shimmy out of his pants before only being half successful. With a frustrated groan, Levi eventually sat up and ripped off the pants that were hanging around his calves before he tossed those away carelessly as well._ _

__Free of all clothing, save for his underwear, Levi slithered under the cool sheets and sighed contentedly. Pushing all and any thoughts out of his head for the time being, he gladly welcomed the sleep that beckoned him like a sultry lover and no sooner did his head hit the pillows, he was fast asleep and blissfully unaware of anything happening around him for the rest of the night._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should explain some things. 
> 
> First of all, I just want to clarify that I don't actually know if German people have some kind of song they sing where couples have to kiss lmao that idea came from a Polish tradition my Waifu told me about where they sing this cute little song for a couple and they have to kiss because it asks it of them in the song. She mentioned that a lot of Eastern European cultures had something similar, but we both couldn't be sure since neither of us are German! :'D so, I don't actually know if the song thing is true or not and if it is? Right on! But if it's not? Then I apologize to my native German readers! It just seemed like a cute idea to have Carla force the boys to kiss by singing a song! (She totally ships them!) 
> 
> Also, the Germany arc is coming to an end very soon! I'd say by chapter 10 the boys should be back in New York. Let's hope all goes to plan! -fingers crossed-
> 
> P.S. I know absolutely nothing about German beer! :'D I don't even drink our American beer, as I'm more a Whiskey/Liquor person. So, apologies for any mistakes make with that part of the chapter. There's a lot of heated debate about which beer is better, German or American and that's a conversation I'd rather not be involved in as a non-beer drinker lmao


	9. It's Affection always

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _"♪ I wonder, do you feel the same as you did at the start? I'm so, I'm so distracted, infatuated ♪"_
> 
>  
> 
> \-- **Wishes by RHODES**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanna say, I wrote this all in one night at 2am after having a few drinks and I just finished this at 9 am... so, yeah.

Levi blinked awake the next morning and immediately regretted even opening his eyes. 

The sunlight blinded him and prompted a groan of pain from his mouth as he tried to bury his head back into the nest of pillows and blankets that surrounded him like a fortress. 

He wasn't sure what time it was, or how long he'd been sleeping, but if the sun was already up and doing it's best to blind him, then he guessed it must have been late morning. 

Thankfully, he didn't _feel_ hungover, but his eyes and throat felt dry and his muscles ached mildly. The previous evening was still painfully clear in his mind, so, he could confirm that he had definitely not drank enough to warrant a hangover, which was all he could ask for, really. 

He spent a few more minutes simply laying in bed letting the warm sunlight bath his exposed back while he dozed off and on. Levi was extremely reluctant to leave this bed anytime soon, but, he knew he would have to, eventually. 

The raven was slightly comforted by the unmistakable sound of Eren's even breathing from the foot of his bed, and he was reminded of yesterdays shared kisses. Grey eyes flitted opened and stared unseeing at a wall as Levi got lost in the memory of baby soft lips, the taste of beer and cinnamon and hot, hungry passion devouring him like a wildfire. 

Levi let the warmth blooming in his chest at the memory of last night's kiss lull him back into a dreamless state of half-consciousness. At least in his own mind, the older man could indulge himself without feeling guilty or disgusted with himself. 

The sound of a gentle set of knocks on the door startled Levi into full awareness and grey eyes were shooting open as he belatedly remembered that they weren't alone in this house. They couldn't afford the luxury of staying in bed all morning. 

"Boys, it's time to get up." Carla Jaeger's sweet voice called through the wood of the door. Slightly panicked, Levi belly crawled across the bed until he was peering over the foot of it where Eren was spread out on the floor with his own nest of pillows and blankets. "Boys?" 

"Eren," Levi hissed at him. When the brunet only stirred to change positions, the raven gritted his teeth. " _Eren!_ " he hissed a little more loudly, but it was clear his younger Assistant was not about to wake up anytime soon. 

"I'm giving you both one minute to get decent before I'm coming in." came the warning that had Levi scrambling off the bed in a hurry. 

He had to get Eren in the bed somehow before Carla came in and saw her son sleeping on the floor. A suspicious Carla Jaeger was the last thing they all needed right now, so, without really thinking, Levi scooped his taller Assistant up in his arms along with some of pillows that were spread on the floor. Surprisingly, Eren wasn't as heavy as Levi was expecting. Either that, or the sudden adrenaline rush was giving Levi temporary super human strength and he just didn't notice. 

The raven rounded the right side of the Queen sized bed and unceremoniously deposited the brunet in his own mess of blankets and pillows. Luckily, that was the moment Eren was startled awake. 

"--dafuck?" came the garbled curse of a still bleary-eyed Eren as he looked around in confusion. "Levi?" 

"Shut up and take off your shirt." Levi instructed as he crawled over the brunet's sleep warm body. 

"Wha?" 

When Eren didn't comply with his orders right away, Levi took it upon himself to reach for the hem of Eren's v-neck before he was yanking it up and off the younger man's torso. If he'd had the time, Levi would have definitely taken a moment or two to appreciate all the endless expanse of sun-kissed skin that presented itself to him once the shirt was out of the way. 

"What are you doing!?" Eren squawked. 

"Your mother is going to come in here any second. Hurry up and spoon me." 

Eren looked very awake now that Levi had said that by way of an actual explanation. Levi also wished he could take the time to appreciate the lovely blush that tinted his Assistant's cheeks as Levi balled up the v-neck and threw it somewhere carelessly across the room. Hey, if Carla already assumed they were screwing like rabbits, why make her think otherwise now?

"I'm coming in!" Eren's mother announced, and that was all Eren needed to pull the blankets up and yank Levi against him until a big warm chest was molded against the curve of the raven's muscular back. 

It absolutely did not help their situation that Levi could feel Eren's morning erection pressing against the cleft of his ass. He swallowed thickly and forced any inappropriate thoughts from his mind; now was _not_ the time for that. 

Eren easily wrapped an arm around Levi's waist while his other arm pillowed the Raven's head and Levi hoped that he didn't look as stiff and uncomfortable as he felt. They needed to make Carla believe that they slept like this all the time, so, Levi forced himself to adjust to the new intimate position by allowing one of his legs to tangle with one of Eren's, just to make the whole thing look more authentic. 

Not a moment too soon, Carla entered the room with a sunny smile on her face as her warm honey eyes landed on the two men spooning in bed. Levi noted that she was wearing a pair of comfortable jeans and a lovely floral print blouse that flattered her own tanned skin. Her dark brown hair was tied into a low side ponytail that draped over her shoulder with a little yellow ribbon tied at the end of it. 

"Good morning, Sonnenschein. Good morning, Mäuschen." she chirped happily. Her smile was so wide, it was starting to hurt Levi's cheekbones just looking at her. "You boys slept in quite late today. It's already a quarter past 10 a.m." 

Levi cursed quietly under his breath, but it was more out of disbelief than actual irritation or anger. Levi had never slept past 10 a.m. in his entire thirty-two years of life-- hell, he'd never slept past 4 a.m., to be fair. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement. He was fucking _dumbfounded_. 

"Now, I know you're both probably still tired, but it's sunday and you'll need to pack for your flight back to New York, ja?" 

"Oh, right." Eren sighed and Levi tried not to shiver at the sensation of Eren's warm breath tickling the nape of his neck. "Okay, mom. We'll get dressed and go downstairs in a few minutes." 

"Alright," Carla said. One of her eyebrows rising up and giving them both knowing looks. "Try not to get too carried away, hm?" 

Despite himself, Levi felt his cheeks flame up and he cleared his throat awkwardly because he could still feel Eren's dick pressed up against his ass and it was horribly distracting. Levi was definitely going to need a cold shower because there was no way he was going to just get dressed and go downstairs after this. He needed a minute to collect himself after this. 

Carla turned to leave the room, finally, but she stopped short of the door and turned back to give Eren a sharp look. 

"Oh, and Eren, your father is downstairs. He wants to speak with you before you leave." 

Levi could feel the way his Assistant's entire body tensed up at the mention of the good Doctor Jaeger. Well, he definitely didn't want to be in Eren's shoes today, that was for sure. 

"Okay, Mom." came the brunet's tight response. "We'll be down soon." 

Shooting Levi a sympathetic smile, Carla finally took her leave and Levi and Eren separated as soon as they heard the door click shut. Eren was letting out a heavy sigh of relief, while Levi rolled to the edge of the bed where he swung his legs over the side and just sat there for a bit. 

"Holy crap, it was way too early to be dealing with this." Levi heard his Assistant mutter. 

"Early?" the raven snorted. "Didn't you hear what time your mother said it was? It's almost eleven." 

"You know what I meant," snapped the brunet irritably. It was the first time Levi had heard Eren sound so... well, irritated. Upset? Sure. Annoyed? Oh, yeah. But never irritated. "My brain is still half asleep right now." 

"Yeah, well, I couldn't have your mother walking in here just to see you sleeping on the floor and me in the bed alone. It would have looked too suspicious." 

"Did you..." Eren trailed off a moment and Levi could feel the mattress moving with whatever Eren just did. He couldn't tell what because he had his back facing the brunet. "Did you _carry_ me to the bed? Or was I dreaming?" he finally asked. 

"Not a dream." Levi confirmed. "You wouldn't wake the fuck up so I had to get you into the bed somehow." 

"Okay, I could understand that part." he heard the brunet hum in acknowledgement. "But... was it necessary to practically rip my shirt off?" 

Levi shrugged one of his shoulders casually before he stood up from the bed and stretched, causing his joints to pop and crack back into place. 

"I figured it would look more realistic." 

"Yeah, okay." Levi finally turned and saw a very sheepish looking Eren still sitting on the edge of the bed. "Um, sorry about... well... you know." 

He couldn't resist, Levi decided to have some fun and try to get Eren to blush again. 

"You mean your morning wood pressing against my ass?" he asked with the straightest face possible. 

Eren spluttered and looked up at him with eyes wide with horror and his cheeks turning a very, very lovely shade of deep red. Fuck, Levi could even see the tips of Eren's ears turning red too. It was the exact reaction he had hoped for and he couldn't stop the smirk from forming on his face at Eren's expense. 

"Calm down, Jaeger." he reassured, still smirking. "We're both grown men. It's only weird if you make it weird. So, consider the incident completely forgotten." 

Eren seemed to appreciate his words, and the smirk on Levi's face slowly faded until he was once again stone-faced. Although, he did feel the need to point out one very important thing to his Assistant before he disappeared into the bathroom to shower first. 

"By the way," Levi said as he moved around the room to gather some fresh clothes to change into after his shower. "Thanks for hiding my tattoos from your mother." 

"Oh," the brunet flushed again. "You noticed that, huh?" 

"It wasn't hard to figure out." Levi shrugged. "I'm going to shower first." 

At his announcement to claim the shower first, Eren sighed but flopped back down on the bed. Levi figured the brunet was probably going to try getting a few more minutes of sleep before he was forced to go and talk to his father about whatever downstairs. 

For a brief moment, Levi was about to try reassuring his younger Assistant and give him some kind of emotional support, but then Levi remembered that he was absolute shit with emotions and comforting people, so that idea immediately went out the window. Well, he'd figure it out later.

\- X -

Levi had been the first one dressed, so naturally, he was the first one to meet Eren's mother in the kitchen for a very late breakfast.

What he hadn't been expecting, however, was Grisha Jaeger to be sitting in the kitchen with his wife discussing something that sounded rather serious in german while skimming the front page of a newspaper. 

Suddenly, Levi felt very, very awkward standing in the now familiar kitchen with Eren's parents alone. He silently tried to will Eren to hurry up and finish getting ready with his mind so he wouldn't have to deal with this shit by himself. 

"Mr. Ackerman." Grisha greeted in that usual stern tone of voice. His face gave nothing away, so it was hard for Levi to tell whether or not Eren's father was about to make his life hell or not. 

"Dr. Jaeger." Levi greeted back in an even tone. "Good Morning." 

"Would you like some tea, Mäuschen?" Carla asked, smiling sweetly as she stood up from her seat. 

"Yes, that would be great."

Mrs. Jaeger started moving about the kitchen, getting out the tea kettle and filling it with water before rummaging through a cupboard for what Levi could only assume was the Earl Grey tea Eren had made for him yesterday morning. 

"Have a seat, Mr. Ackerman." Grisha summoned him, motioning with a hand toward the empty seat Carla was previously occupying. "I'd like to speak with you." 

Well, fuck it, Levi thought as he moved to sit next to the taller man who had put his newspaper down and folded it neatly. The raven did his best to show Eren's father that he was not about to be intimidated by him. Levi's Uncle Kenny was a much worse adversary to deal with and there was no way Grisha's sharp stare could compare to his Uncle's. 

"Just Levi." The raven corrected upon sitting down and crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Levi, then." Grisha said adjusting his glasses and pushing them back up the bridge of his nose. "I'd like to apologize, for my behavior the other day." 

Nodding, Levi was silent for a moment until he realized Grisha was waiting for him to say something before the man would continue. Great. 

"There's no need to apologize, Dr. Jaeger--"

"Grisha." the older man corrected him in turn. 

"Grisha, I understand that you were only worried about Eren. Being engaged to one's own superior surely doesn't look or sound good to most people." 

There was a flash of something in Grisha's grey-green eyes that Levi almost thought was something akin to approval. He couldn't be sure, having spent so little time around the man these past couple of days. 

"Yes, exactly." the older brunet said, sitting back in his chair and studying Levi carefully. "As a Father, I worry about him. So, I hope I didn't make you feel unwelcome. That was not my intention." 

"On the contrary," Levi said confidently. "Your family has been especially kind and gracious. I felt right at home, surprisingly." it surprised just how... Erwin-like he sounded right now. Clearly, he was spending too much time around him. 

" _Nichts zu danken, Mäuschen._ I'm glad we could make you feel comfortable in our home." Carla chimed in happily. ( _"You're welcome, little mouse."_ ) "Ah, no milk and two sugars, ja?" 

"Yes, thank you." Levi turned in his seat slightly to nod his head in gratitude at a smiling Carla. 

"I'm pleased to hear you say that, Levi." Grisha said, capturing Levi's attention once more. "So, I hope you won't mind if I'm very honest with you." 

"I believe honesty is the best policy." Levi said, turning back in his seat to stare Grisha right in the eyes with a determined look. 

This time, there was definitely no mistaking the look of approval in Grisha Jaeger's eyes as the corner of his lips tilted upward just slightly. Levi had that feeling of pride swell in his chest once more, which was something he still found odd. He never thought pleasing Eren's parents would be so... gratifying. 

"Good," the older man cleared his throat and took a sip from his mug of coffee before continuing. "Then, you'll understand where I'm coming from when I say that I didn't approve of this engagement at all." Levi nodded, but Grisha wasn't finished yet. "That is, I didn't approve of it at first." 

Well, that had thrown Levi for a bit of a loop. He hadn't been expecting Grisha to change his opinion of him so quickly, let alone at all. Then again, Levi had a sneaking suspicion that Eren's mother probably had a hand in that. The woman was a force to be reckoned with. 

"However, I think the reason behind why I disapproved of this engagement at first was misunderstood. I want to make this very clear to you and Eren right now, Levi." Again, Levi nodded and but said nothing. "Let me just say that I don't care whether or not my son marries a man or a woman, so long as I know the person he's marrying will be good for his future." 

Ah. Now, Levi understood everything. The reason for why Eren was always so tense when it came to his father, why Eren seemed to be angry with him all the time. He thought Grisha wouldn't accept his sexuality. Well, to be fair, Levi had been secretly peeved that homophobia might have played a part in Grisha's attitude toward him initially, but it turns out he was wrong. 

"He's my only son and child, Levi." Grisha continued, his eyes softening at the thought of Eren, no doubt. "I only want good things for him." 

"Of course," Levi said. "I completely understand, which is why I said an apology was not necessary. As a parent, you have every right to worry. I think your son is..." and the raven had to hesitate, because maybe this was crossing a line here, but, he felt he needed to say this now. "I think your son is a very wonderful person. He's more than I deserve." 

Carla touched his shoulder gently as she set his cup of tea in front of him and it prompted Levi to look up at her. The brunette leaned down and placed a loving kiss to his temple before the hand that had been touching his shoulder moved to stroke the back of his undercut in a soothing gesture. 

"Oh, Mäuschen." she sighed. "You don't give yourself enough credit." 

Levi said nothing to that, at least, not out loud. In his own head, Levi listed off every reason he could think of for why he was a piece of shit who didn't deserve even an ounce of Eren and Carla's kindness, or Grisha and Mikasa's approving looks. If they knew the truth, they'd think he was the scum of the earth. 

Just then, Eren walked into the kitchen and stopped to take in the rather strange scene before him. No doubt, Levi could guess how odd this all looked. Him sitting at the kitchen table with Eren's father, Carla fussing over him like the wonderful mother she was. Had Hanji or Erwin been there to witness this scene, they'd never let Levi live it down. 

"Eren," Grisha said, standing up from his seat and grabbing his newspaper. "I'd like to speak with you in private. Come to my study when you're ready." 

The older brunet silently left the kitchen after that and Eren frowned after him. Levi could already see where this was going. 

"Sonnenschein," Carla's gentle voice called. "Go talk to him. It sounds important." 

"Sure," Eren snorted with a roll of his eyes as he moved into the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee. "If you consider him criticizing every single one of my life choices and pointing out how I'm wasting my time with useless things an important conversation." 

Carla frowned at him for that and Levi heard her huff in irritation. This was not going to end well. He had to do something before Eren incited his mother's wrath, something Levi had gotten a tiny glimpse of yesterday afternoon before lunch. 

"Eren Michael Jaeger," she started in a sharp tone, before Levi reached out and touched her hand with his own in order to get her attention. 

Fiery golden eyes turned to give him a rather peeved look, but Levi bucked up and held his ground, shaking his head at her before he stood up from his seat and approached Eren from behind. 

"Eren," he said, prompting the younger man to turn and give him an unimpressed look. "You need to talk to him." 

"Levi, you don't know what he's like--" 

" _Eren_ ," Came Levi's sharp tone; the tone of voice he used when he didn't want to hear any excuses. "Stop acting childish and go hear what your father has to say." 

"But--" 

"No." the raven cut him off. "Talk. To. Him." 

Teal eyes met Grey with stubborn determination to defy those orders, but Levi held his ground, used to Eren silently trying to rebel against him by now. It went without saying, Levi always won out in the end. Sighing, Eren broke eye contact and balled his hands up into tight fists at his side. 

"Fine!" he huffed, setting his mug of coffee down. "I'll go hear what he has to say, damn it." 

"Language, Eren." Carla chided sweetly. 

"And be an adult about it." Levi tacked on as an after thought. 

"I'm always an adult!" Eren yelled over his shoulder as he stomped out of the kitchen in a very childish manner. 

Levi heard Eren's mother giggling softly as she watched her son disappear around a corner, but the raven simply sighed. 

"That brat." he said, shaking his head in fond exasperation. 

"Yes, but he's _your_ brat." the brunette smiled at him. Levi cleared his throat and chose to ignore the way his heart leaped at her words. "Now, would you like some breakfast, Levi? Eren and Grisha might be awhile." 

"Yes, actually, I'll help, if you don't mind." 

"Danke, Mäuschen."

\- X -

As Carla had said, Eren and Grisha were in the study for at least an hour, and by the time the two men had emerged, the tension between them had considerably lessened and Levi was just the tiniest bit curious to know what happened when Eren saw him upon entering the kitchen, looked away and blushed.

That was an odd reaction he hadn't been expecting at all. 

Eren and Grisha sat at the kitchen table in silence, while Carla served Eren a hearty breakfast and Levi sat at the kitchen island with a second cup of tea in silence. He had been listening to Eren's mother talk about times when Eren and Mikasa were still children and Levi had sprinkled in a few stories from his own childhood; though, they were much less detailed than Carla's stories were. He didn't need Eren's mother finding out about his Orphan status as a child and pitying him. 

Eren chatted with both of his parents while he ate, with Levi occasionally speaking whenever he was prompted to. But, it was nice. The atmosphere in the kitchen with Eren and both his parents discussing different things was something Levi never thought he'd ever be apart of, ever. 

Then, Levi helped Carla clear up the mess in the kitchen and she rewarded him with a hug and another kiss to his forehead. Levi was reluctant to admit it, but he was getting used to all the affection Carla loved to shower everyone in. 

Once the kitchen was clean, Carla reminded Eren of something he had seemed to forget. 

"Oh, Sonnenschein! You never got a chance to show Levi around the village!" 

"Oh, yeah." Eren said indifferently. "Well, maybe another time, Mom." 

"Nonsense!" Carla chided. "It's barely going to be noon. Take Levi and the dogs out for a walk and show him around. Who knows how long it will be before you come back here to visit." 

The brunet sighed, glancing over at his boss and flashing Levi an apologetic smile before he was agreeing to his mother's request. 

"Alright, I'll go leash up Mac & Cheese. Meet me in the front yard in five minutes, Levi."

\- X -

"Tell me again why we had to bring these... two beasts along with us?" Levi grumbled, struggling to keep a hold on the white German Shepard that kept tugging harshly on the leash as Eren and Levi walked back to the Jaeger house. 

Eren seemed perfectly fine walking the black German Shepard, considering the black one seemed much more well-behaved than the one Levi was forced to walk. 

"Because, I haven't spent any quality time with my dogs since I got home and it's partially your fault." 

The white dog, named Cheese as Levi remembered, yipped back at him excitedly and Levi frowned at the dopey expression the dog was giving him as they walked down a forest trail. 

"Don't try to pin this shit on me. You probably just forgot about them." Levi sneered. 

"Oh, yes, my bad. I must have been too distracted with my boss's tongue in my mouth this weekend." the brunet snorted. 

Levi rolled his eyes, but despite his effort to show no reaction to that comment, he felt his face warm just a little at the memory of last night's kiss. 

"That's not how I remembered it," the raven mumbled under his breath. 

"What was that?" Eren asked with a smirk. 

"Tch, that still doesn't explain why I have to walk one of them. Why can't you walk both of them? You've got two hands." 

"Aw," the brunet cooed. "Is someone afraid of a little harmless dog?" 

"Little?" Levi scoffed. "This thing is a monster. Just look at it." 

"Didn't you ever have a pet?" Eren asked, shooting Levi a confused look before realization hit him and he looked away from the shorter man looking slightly embarrassed. 

"Orphan, remember. I didn't fucking have parents, but, oh, yes, I managed to have a pet." came Levi's sarcastic teasing. 

"I forgot, sorry." mumbled his Assistant. "But, still, you never wanted one? A dog? A cat? A hamster?" 

"I had bigger things to worry about than wanting a pet when I was a kid, Eren." 

"Like what?" he asked curiously. 

"Well," Levi started, keeping his attention on the white fur ball that was practically dragging him along by the retractable lead as it sniffed the trail ahead of them. "I had to worry about where I would get my next meal. My Uncle basically left me to fend for myself." 

"Wow," Eren said, walking a bit closer to Levi now as the trail narrowed a bit around a bend. "That's... insane." 

The raven shrugged, "It was my life. I learned how to survive on my own." 

The brunet was quiet for a moment before both men had to pause to let the dogs wander a bit into the forest to do their business. 

"What was he like?" Eren suddenly asked, prompting Levi to cock a thin brow at his vague question. "Your Uncle. What was he like?" 

"He was a real bastard." snorted Levi. "You think I'm an asshole? You should have met my Uncle. He wrote the book on being an asshole." 

"You mean, there's someone out there who's _worse_ than you are?" Eren asked, but Levi could recognize the tease for what it was. 

"Shut up." 

Mac & Cheese announced very loudly that they were finished doing their business, and Eren led the pack with Mac walking close to his side. Meanwhile, Cheese kept pressing his massive body against Levi's legs as he walked effectively tripping him up several times. 

"So, how did you pick up guitar?" Continued Eren long after Levi had thought their little game of twenty questions was over. 

"I was in a band as a teenager." Levi said nonchalantly. At Eren's bark of laughter, Levi glared at him until the brunet's laughter trailed off and he sheepishly smiled at the raven. 

"Oh, you're serious?" he squeaked. "Okay, Prove it to me." 

"I don't have to prove shit to you, Jaeger."

"Yes, you do! If you don't, I promise I'll keep bugging you about it until you break." 

At the little knowing smirk Eren was giving him, Levi rolled his eyes and sighed, which was as close to holding up a white flag as Eren would get. 

"You're such a stubborn shit, you know that?" 

Eren laughed again, "So I've been told!" 

They fell into a companionable silence the rest of the walk back to the Jaeger Estate, and only once the house was in sight did Eren unleash the dogs so that they could run back to the house ahead of them. 

Levi had hoped that maybe Eren would forget about him saying he was in a band by the time they got back, but, that foolish hope had been dashed when Eren herded him toward the garden instead of inside the house. Then, he'd gotten Levi nice and lost in Carla's rose garden that was a bit labyrinth-like. 

The older man had cursed as he tried to find his way out with no Eren in sight, but he'd managed it somehow. When he finally emerged from the rose garden, Levi had found the familiar cobblestone path that led back toward the Deck and he followed it, only to be met halfway by a grinning Eren with the old acoustic guitar from the previous night in his hand. 

"Have fun wandering the Garden, boss?" Eren asked with a cheeky smirk. 

Levi scowled at him, " _M’a t en crisser une..._ " ( _"I'm gonna give you one... [a punch]"_ )

"Okay, clearly I've pushed you to the point of cussing me out in french, so, I'll stop. I just needed a distraction to go and get the guitar from the house." 

"I never said I was going to play for you." Levi sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"If you don't, I'll bug you the entire flight back to New York. Imagine, almost eight hours of being forced to sit next to me and not being able to escape anywhere." 

That... was actually a very good point. Damn. Levi glowered at his Assistant for backing him into yet another corner. Yet, Levi couldn't really find it in himself to be all that upset about it. For some reason, since opening up to Eren about his past and his shitty childhood in general, he found he didn't quite mind showing this part of his life either. 

"Fine," he grumbled. 

"Great!" Eren chirped excitedly. "Let's go down to the dock by the lake. We'll have more privacy there." 

Shrugging, Levi followed the brunet as he led the way down the cobblestone path until they reached the old wooden dock. Eren handed Levi the guitar and then he was moving to sit on the edge of the dock, his feet dangling over the edge and just hovering over the water's reflective face. 

Levi followed suit, only the slightest bit unhappy about sitting on the creaky wood, but he'd live with it. Testing out the strings to make sure the guitar was still tuned correctly, Levi was pleased to find that it was and he took his time to fiddle with the tuning heads while occasionally stretching the strings out with his fingers. 

"What are you going to play?" Eren asked, leaning back on his hands as he waited patiently for Levi to start playing something. 

"I don't know yet." the raven mumbled. "Why, you have a request now?" 

"No." Eren laughed. "Play whatever you want. I was just curious if you were going to play something I knew or not." 

Well, it was true that Levi had absolutely no idea what song he would play. He hadn't practiced in awhile, so he took the time to play a couple of random notes of random songs that floated through his brain until one song finally stuck and he couldn't help but smirk. Eren would probably be annoyed at him for singing it, but, it was definitely going to be worth it to see the brunet's reaction. 

[ (X)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaPfPEJq5l0)

Without a pick, Levi settled with strumming with his fingers, and he carefully plucked each string with a practiced precision earned over years and years of playing. It filled him with satisfaction when he didn't catch any other strings with his fingers while the fingers of his left hand danced across the neck and pressed firmly into the wood. 

Then, he took a deep breath and began to sing in a low, even tone.

  
_'♪ Je rêve de, je rêve de, je rêve d'évasion lente  
Mouiller mes sens dans l'océan blanc ♪'_  
( _I dream of, I dream of, I dream of slow evasions_  
Wet my senses in the white ocean) 

  
_'♪ J'ai perdu tout, j'ai perdu tout, j'ai perdu toutes notions  
Du bien, du mal, de l'horizon long ♪'_  
( _I've lost everything, I've lost everything, I've lost every notion_  
of good, of bad, of the long horizon) 

He took a second to pause and gauge Eren's reaction, but it was a bit of a mistake because the utter look of amazed shock on the brunet's face nearly had Levi bursting out laughing, but he didn't. Levi managed to simply get away with a bit of a smile that showed more teeth than he would have liked, but that was only because he was gearing up to start singing the next verse.

  
_'♪ Attends-moi là, attends-moi là, attends-moi comme le vent  
Juste au-dessus des cabanons blonds ♪'_  
( _Wait for me here, wait for me here, wait for me like the wind_  
Just above the blonde shed)

  
_'♪ Jetez les fi, jetez les fi, jetez les filets d'amour  
Remontez-les dans deux mille ans, quand ♪'_  
( _Throw the fi, throw the fi, throw the nets of love_  
Reassemble them in two thousand years, when) 

  
_'♪ Les mains se serrent, les mains se serrent, les mains se serreront fort  
Sous un soleil de papier doré ♪'_  
( _The hands huddle, the hands huddle, the hands will huddle tightly_  
Under a sun of golden paper) 

  
_'♪ Si c'est la fin, si c'est la fin, si c'est la fin des remords_  
 _Alors je te retrouverai, vrai_  
 _Alors je te retrouverai, vrai ♪'_  
( _If it's the end, if it's the end, if it's the end of the remoses_  
 _Then I will find you, true_  
 _Then I will find you, true_ ) 

When his song came to a close, Levi was a little nervous to see Eren was still gaping at him. Clearing his throat, the raven wondered if maybe he didn't sound as good as he used to. It had been awhile since he'd performed in front of anyone else that wasn't Hanji and Erwin.

"Close your mouth, Jaeger." Levi mumbled, not daring to make eye contact with his Assistant. 

"Damn," he heard Eren say, prompting him to finally look up and see the grin that slowly formed on Eren's face until it was practically split in half. "That was--... I had no idea you could sing!" came the giddy exclamation. 

"Well, I was the lead singer of my band." Levi explained, feeling uncomfortable with all the praise he was getting. "But, I haven't sang in years. I'm pretty sure I fucked up once or twice." 

"Sing something else," Eren urged, eyes big and glittering beautifully in the early afternoon sun. "Please? Something I can understand this time." he chuckled. 

Levi stared at Eren for a long moment simply drinking him in. The expression he had on his face-- it was one Levi had never seen Eren give _him_ before. It was so open and his eyes were so intensely focused on Levi all of a sudden, like the raven was the most interesting thing in the world and he couldn't stop _staring_ at him. It was unsettling, and yet, Levi felt his heart racing at the thought that he was currently at the center of all his Assistant's attention. 

He swallowed, licked his lips and then mumbled out a grumpy "Fine." 

[ (X)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5soixb2U6xM)

A very specific song floated to the very forefront of Levi's mind, and while it was a song he hadn't sang in what felt like decades, the raven felt knew it would perfectly fit how he felt in this moment in time. So, he adjusted the guitar and played a few notes experimentally before he started playing a bit more confidently. 

Eren was waiting to hear what his next song was with an almost eager giddiness, and Levi inhaled deeply before he started singing the first verse in a soft tone.

  
_'♪ I know that you say I get mean when I'm drinking but,_   
_Then again, sometimes I get really sweet, so..._   
_What does it mean if I tell you to go fuck yourself?_   
_Or if I say that you're beautiful to me? ♪'_   


  
_'♪ It's affection always,_   
_Ooh, You're gonna see it someday_   
_My attention for you_   
_Even if it's not what you need ♪'_   


Levi kept his eyes on Eren as the brunet closed his eyes and simply listened to his voice with the sweetest smile on his face. The faint sunlight that peeked through the thick clouds that threatened rain highlighted the slight blond undertones in Eren's brown hair and eyelashes and Levi found himself enchanted by his Assistant.

  
_'♪ Sometimes we talk all night long, we don't shut up_   
_and when it's late we'll say we're still wide awake so..._   
_We love to talk about how you'll come up to visit me_   
_and we'll rent a car and we'll drive upstate ♪'_   


  
_'♪ I think of you,_   
_I want you too,_   
_I'd fall for you... ♪'_   


_'♪ It's affection always... ♪'_

\- X -

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing up their suitcases and exchanging lots and lots of information with Carla, who seemed determined to stay in touch with not only Eren, but Levi as well. (Somehow, he'd ended up exchanging cell phone numbers with her.)

Their flight left in the early evening, so that they'd land in New York around late afternoon. It was a good schedule, because it meant they had plenty of time to rest before they both had to be back in the office the next day. Hanji and Erwin had already called to let Levi know that they'd be picking them up from the airport. 

"Miss Hanji and Mr. Smith are going to be picking us up?" Eren had asked on the car ride back to the air port. 

Surprisingly, Grisha was the one driving them back with Eren's mother sitting shot gun leaving Eren and Levi sitting together in the back seats. 

"Tch, unfortunately. Hanji said something about needing to tell me something important as soon as we land. What could be so important that she can't wait to tell me later?" Levi snorted. 

"Hm," Eren hummed in deep thought. "Well, whatever it is, must be pretty important to her. Speaking of important, do you think you're going to be okay on the flight back?" he asked, flashing Levi a worried look. "Last time you were in an airplane, you got high off random pills Hanji gave you, drank at least one metric fuck ton in alcohol and then passed out for hours afterwards." 

The raven flushed at the hazy memory of his last experience with an airplane and he very stubbornly chose to stare out his own window instead of looking at his Assistant, whom he could hear snickering at him. 

"I'll be _fine _." he insisted. "I'll probably end up falling asleep as soon as we're settled in our seats."__

__"If you say so," Eren mumbled. "But, if you start getting nervous or anxious, tell me. I'll do anything I can to help you out, okay, Levi?"_ _

__"Yeah," Came Levi's unconvincing response._ _

__"Levi," Eren sighed._ _

__"Fine," The raven finally turned to look at his Assistant who was looking a little peeved with him. "I promise I'll tell you if I start freaking the fuck out on the flight. But, I'm telling you, I'll be fine."_ _

__"Alright," came Eren's cheery response, smile plastered on his face. "That's all I'm asking."_ _

__Rolling his eyes, Levi decided to stare out his window for the remainder of the drive back to the international airport. The sound of Eren chatting casually with his parents helped calm most of Levi's nerves about the flight by the time they made it to the airport._ _

__"Have a safe trip, boys." Carla said, sounding a little tearful as she and her husband escorted them to their terminal._ _

__"Mom, you didn't need to follow us all the way. This isn't our first flight." Eren chuckles, stepping closer to his mother so he could give her a tight embrace._ _

__" _Ich liebe dich über alles, mein Sonnenschein._ " Levi heard Carla sniffle into Eren's shoulder. ( _I love you more than anything, my sunshine._ ) _ _

__"Love you too, mom." Eren laughed before pulling away and kissing his mother's cheek. "Thanks, Dad." he said, turning his attention to the older brunet who stood off to the side slightly. "For everything."_ _

__Grisha nodded his head, eyes soft. "Have a safe trip, Eren. Be sure to call your mother when you land."_ _

__Then, Levi guessed it was his turn to get smothered with affection as Carla side-stepped Eren and wasted no time in pulling him into a tight hug. She kissed his cheek and Levi decided he may as well hug the woman back. This was probably the last time he'd ever see her, and, despite not wanting to get attached, Levi knew he would definitely miss Eren's sweet, sweet mother._ _

__"Take care of him, Mäuschen, and take care of yourself, too." he heard her whisper into his ear before she pulled away to look at him, fresh tears lining her eyes. "You're part of our family now, Levi. Don't forget that."_ _

__Levi swallowed a painful lump in his throat at her words, "Thank you, Carla. I had a wonderful time with you and your family."_ _

__Sniffling again, Carla stepped aside as Grisha came up to Levi next and held a hand out for him to shake. As much as Levi hated shaking hands, Levi would make an exception for Grisha just as he'd made an exception for hugging Carla. He gripped the older man's hand firmly and shook._ _

__"Keep my son out of trouble, Levi." Grisha said, eyes glinting knowingly._ _

__"I'll try." the raven said, smirking at the pout Eren was giving him off to the side. "Thank you for letting me stay in your home."_ _

__"Not a problem. My wife enjoyed your company. Please, visit again with Eren soon. Carla will appreciate it." which was probably as much of a blessing as Levi would ever get from the stern Doctor Jaeger. How ironic that the blessing meant nothing in the end because this engagement wasn't even real._ _

__"Of course," came Levi's quiet reply before he pulled his hand back from Grisha's and turned to hand his ticket to the smiling woman behind the desk._ _

__" _Gute Reise!_ " he heard Carla say from behind them. ( _Have a good trip!_ )_ _

__Finally, this emotional roller coaster of a trip to Germany was over and things would go back to normal. No more intrusive mothers entering his bedroom whenever she wanted, no more scary father's to deal with, no more nosy friends and family members trying to give him relationship advice._ _

__Although, As he and Eren boarded their flight, Levi couldn't help but feel like something had definitely changed since he left New York. If only he could put his finger on what, exactly.__

 _ _\- X -__

 _ _Thankfully, Levi had survived the flight without any anxiety or panic attacks happening, and Eren was especially impressed with the fact that Levi hadn't touched a single ounce of alcohol the entire flight._ _

__It was late afternoon in New York when they landed, as Levi had predicted, which meant he had the rest of the day to unpack his shit and relax in the comfort of his quiet apartment. Levi was eager to go home._ _

__As promised, as they exited their terminal, Levi immediately saw a very familiar head of wild rust-brown hair and thick glasses and he stopped mid-walk to groan._ _

__"What?" Eren had asked him, stopping a few steps ahead of him to look back and shoot Levi a worrying look._ _

__"Hanji," was all he said, and while, yes he did love his best friend, Levi didn't have the energy to deal with her at the moment._ _

__He had briefly considered ducking into the crowd in order to evade her, but that chance slipped from his fingers when big brown eyes finally spotted him and he braced himself for impact._ _

__"LEVI!!" she screamed, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as the raven and the brunet slowly approached her. "Levi, guess what??!" the brunette continued to shout, despite Levi being less than ten feet away from her now._ _

__"What the fuck is it, you damn banshee?" he growled, using his one free hand to cover his left ear in a useless attempt to block out whatever it is Hanji was going to tell him._ _

__"I'M PREGNANT!!!" Hanji screeched, doing a little excited jump into the air as she did. This attracted practically everyone in the airport's attention. Some people standing nearby even started clapping and smiling at the news._ _

__"You're... what!?" Levi gaped. Had he heard her correctly?_ _

__"I'm pregnant! I got the news yesterday, I'm eight weeks along!" the brunette laughed happily._ _

__"Congratulations, Miss Hanji!" Eren said cheerfully._ _

__"Thank you, Eren! AHH! I'm just so excited! Isn't it great, Levi?"_ _

__The raven in question was still a little shocked by the news that his slightly crazy best friend was going to be a mom. He supposed Erwin would definitely be a good parent, but Hanji... well..._ _

__Suddenly, a tiny old woman approached Levi and started smacking him with her purse. It was such an unexpected thing that the raven startled and stumbled a few steps back._ _

__"What the fuck?" he'd cursed, staring at the elderly woman who was frowning at him in disapproval._ _

__"How rude!" the woman yelled. "You should be excited to know you're going to be a father. Children are a gift from the heavens after all! Shame on you!"_ _

__Then, she continued to smack Levi with her little beige purse causing him to shield himself with his forearms to avoid getting smacked in the face with it._ _

__"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute, ma'am!" a familiar deep baritone interrupted, and thankfully, Erwin was stepping between Levi and the little old woman. "This isn't the father. I am. See?"_ _

__Levi peeked over one of his forearms to see Erwin flashing the old woman the gold band on his finger and that seemed to be enough for her as she allowed her bag to drop back to her side._ _

__"Oh, is that so?" she said, blinking owlishly._ _

__"Yes, ma'am." Erwin smiled sheepishly, walking over to Hanji's side and wrapping one of his strong arms around her slender shoulders. "I'm her husband."_ _

__"Oh, well, that's lovely. Congratulations, dear." and then she was going on her merry little way, completely forgetting about Levi who she was beating with her purse only a minute ago._ _

__"What... the... fuck!" Levi repeated, glaring up at his Assistant and Hanji who were doubling over with laughter while Erwin simply smiled apologetically at him. "You assholes didn't even _try_ to help me!" he hissed, grabbing the handle of his suitcase and stomping off past everyone. "Whatever. I'm going home. Fuck you guys." _ _

__"Oh, come on, Levi! We're sorry!!" Hanji shouted after him, though Levi could still hear her stifled giggles which didn't help convince him she was actually sorry. "Wait up, Munchkin! We're driving you back! Come on, Eren! We'll drop you off, too!"_ _

__"Oh, no, that's alright. I'll just get a cab--"_ _

__"Nonsense," Erwin cut off with a tone of finality. "We're driving you."_ _

__"O-Okay, then. Thanks."_ _

__Levi couldn't wait to get home and lock everyone out, because he knew Hanji and Erwin were going to drop Eren off first and then him last so they could invite themselves up and pester him with endless questions about his weekend with Eren's family._ _

__Well, pregnant or not, Levi was still planning on kicking Hanji's ass for this little stunt._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to give credit where it's due, My waifu Paula came up with the idea for that last scene in the airport with the little old woman. It was pure genius! Never would have thought of that myself. THANK YOU, SWEET PEA~!! 
> 
> Also, FUCK YEAH, finished the Germany arc a chapter early! I seriously thought I was going to have to cut this into two parts, but look at that, I didn't have to! GO ME! 
> 
> The plot, as I mentioned before, is going to start straying COMPLETELY from the movie's plot from here on out. Things are gonna get dumb, and they're gonna be awesome. I'm really excited about writing the rest of these chapters. 
> 
> P.S. Been wanting to use the song Affection by Cigarettes After Sex for Levi since I first heard it last year and NOW I HAVE AND IT'S PERFECT! Also, I love the song by INDOLORE beyond words.


	10. This Gentleman Will Pay for Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> __  
> ♪ There's so many places that you could be, I'm happy that you chose to be here with me  
>  _Oh, you amaze me with everything you are, you shoot for the stars, you follow your heart_  
>  _I wanna hold you in my arms ♪_
> 
>  
> 
> \-- **III. Chemistry by Forrest Hartmann**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally managed to find time to sit and write this chapter!! 
> 
> Ah, I'm so proud I was able to crank this out in one sitting! Not much happening in this chapter other than just a lot of Ereri and some Hanji and Erwin action.
> 
> Also, LOOK AT THAT! CHAPTER 10! BRING OUT THE DANCING LOBSTERS!! I thought we'd never reach this point, but here we are! But, we've still got a ways to go still!

Monday morning had Levi coming into work dragging his feet a bit. 

It wasn't so much the idea of work that had him cringing at the idea of leaving his bed that morning, but rather, the thought of Hanji, Erwin and NIle Dok all waiting to corner him in some way that morning. 

There were so only so many places he could try and hide or escape to, his office being one of them but, well, when your two best friends were both your superiors in the workplace, that idea was quickly dismissed. 

Thus, Levi very reluctantly stepped off the Elevator on the 23rd floor, took a deep breath in and straightened his slightly slouching posture. With his shoulders squared back, his head held high and his usual air of superiority, Levi strode into the bullpen where all his subordinates sat either slacking off and chatting with their neighbors, or the small handful that were actually powering up their desktop computers and attempting to do some work. 

Upon entering the bullpen, Levi frowned and let his grey eyes sweep over all the cubicles. 

"I don't hear anyone working," he said in a low but commanding tone. "I also don't see anyone actually doing what they're supposed to be doing." 

His voice startled everyone, except for the small handful of people who were _actually_ trying to work. Levi quickly noted that it was the usual suspects, meaning probably the only three people the raven knew he could rely on to actually get shit done. 

Eld Jinn, Gunther Shultz and Oluo Bozzard. These were the three people under his supervision that he found he never usually had to use scare tactics with in order to get them to do their shit, mostly because Gunther was too serious for his own good sometimes, Eld was just in a hurry to get things done so he could slack off or leave early and Oluo... well, Oluo could be a bit of a kiss-ass at times, but, he got his work done and that's all Levi cared about. 

"G-Good Morning, Mr. Ackerman." a few startled workers greeted as Levi began his walk-through straight past the bullpen. 

As usual, Levi said nothing and kept up a stern, no-nonsense attitude as he walked past several cubicles and noted that so far, they were all up to his standards in terms of cleanliness and tidiness. He was nearing his office, but was just slightly surprised to see that Eren was no where in sight. Usually, the brunet was already at the office and waiting for Levi with his usual morning tea and reports and messages and what-not. 

The raven tried to reason that if the jet lag was effecting him as much as it had effected Levi, then he could forgive the brunet for being a little late this morning. Hell, Levi didn't even _want_ to come into work this morning, but, he was a victim of a strict routine and Levi very reluctantly got out of bed as soon as 4 a.m. ticked by. Here he was, four hours later, heading toward his office.

Sighing upon reaching the door to said office, Levi took a moment to just let his hand linger on the cool door handle while his free hand reached up to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

_'Back to the old grind, Levi.'_ He reminded himself sternly. _'Whatever happened in Germany, stays in Germany.'_

While there was a dull ache in his chest at the thought of sweeping everything that happened the past three days under the carpet, the older man knew that in order for the both of them to make it out of this messy situation he put them in was to continue acting as though everything were still the same, put on a little act for Nile whenever he was around for appearances sake, and when Levi's promotion was in the bag, he'd give Eren a very generous raise and end this little farce and that will be that. Nobody gets hurt. 

But, of course, nobody was going to make this easy on him. Not even a minute after Levi had entered his office and started getting things settled on his desk, Hanji and Erwin were slipping into his office and shutting the door behind them. 

Fuck. 

"Good Morning, Levi." Erwin greeted with a much too happy and polite smile. It made the raven want to throw a pen at him and hoped it burst in mid-air staining his pristine button down shirt in black ink. "A little late today, aren't we?" 

Levi only just barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes and flipping his boss off while in the workplace. While he knew Erwin would never fire him for insubordination, simply because he's known Levi so long, he's used to his vulgar language and crude actions, it didn't change the fact that Erwin was part owner of this company and therefore still his boss. 

But it's not like Levi minded showing Erwin the respect he deserved during work hours. It was just at moments like these, when the blond dropped all pretenses and started teasing him, that Levi was so very tempted to forget his place and tell the big, blond idiot to 'go suck a fuck' and be done with it.

"You'd be late too if you'd just stepped off an eight-hour flight from Germany the previous day and had to spend the rest of the night readjusting to the time change." Levi pointed out, going about his business of powering up his computer and organizing some shit on his desk. Anything to avoid making direct eye contact with Erwin and Hanji and therefore encouraging them to question him further. 

"Rough night, munchkin?" Hanji asked softly. "You should have called me, or at least texted me. I was up all night throwing my guts up." 

At that, Levi finally did look up to see that his best friend did look a little worn out and pale. She was still grinning from ear to ear, because morning sickness or not, Hanji Zoe Smith would not be defeated in any form of the word. 

"... How are you feeling?" Levi asked quietly. He hated to show it, but, he was a little worried. 

It was a given, considering how long he knew Hanji and Erwin had been trying to conceive and at one point, they worried whether or not they would ever be able to; Levi knew they had already settled to adopt if that were the case. In a sense, he had been happy to hear that his two best friends were so open-minded to adoption, being a former orphan himself, but in another sense, Levi was also happy that they were able to conceive on their own. 

"I'm doing better," Hanji answered in a calm voice. "In the early mornings and at night is when it really hits me, but, I'm healthy as a horse otherwise!" 

Nodding, Levi felt the little prickle of anxiety that had started in his chest fade to nothing once more. Shit, he hoped it wouldn't be like this the entire time Hanji was pregnant. He wasn't even the father and yet, Levi couldn't stop himself from worrying about his friend anyway. The raven could only imagine how Erwin must be feeling, considering he was the father. 

"But, enough about my morning sickness!" the brunette changed the subject, plopping down in one of the large leather chairs in front of Levi's desk. Erwin staying standing but moving to stand behind his wife while one hand gently gripped her shoulder. "You owe us a story about your trip, since you kicked us out of your apartment yesterday before we could get to the good stuff." 

"Tch, is that the only reason you came in here? To bother me about my weekend?" 

"Kinda." 

"How sweet of you." Levi said flatly. "There's nothing to talk about. I spent time with Eren's friends and family, had to go to two different parties and play nice, which was hell, and..." the raven had to trail off as he suddenly remembered that Eren now knew some very intimate things about him after the trip. Shit. 

"What, what!?" Hanji asked impatiently. 

"Pooky bear," Erwin sighed and Levi cringed at the grossly affectionate pet name. "Don't get too excited." 

"Oh, I'm fine, Snookums!" Hanji smiled with a dismissive flap of her hand, "But, Levi is hiding something from us! Spill it!" 

The raven hesitated, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable as he shifted from foot to foot and eventually settled on just sinking down into his desk chair. 

"Eren accidentally saw Isabel and Farlan's tattoos, and I sort of... had a panic attack afterwards." Levi's voice was quiet, but he had no doubt that his two friends heard him clearly, if the growing expressions of concern on both their faces was anything to go by. 

"Levi, why didn't you say anything to us when it happened?" Erwin frowned. "You know we would have tried to help you." 

"Tch, because it's not your problem." the shorter man snapped in irritation. He didn't understand why they always had to get so upset with him about this shit. It wasn't that big of a deal, he handled it himself. "And besides, I couldn't have called you even if I wanted to. This last attack was pretty intense. I stayed locked in a bathroom for about an hour." 

Hanji was uncharacteristically quiet, to the point where it was very unsettling for both men in the room. She was staring at Levi, an odd expression on her face. He could tell that she was upset, but it hard to tell if she wanted to yell at him or burst out into tears. 

Which... is exactly what she did the very next moment. 

"You _-hic!-_ idiot!" she wailed, startling Levi and worrying Erwin. "Why didn't you say anything until now?! After everything we've been through _-hic-_ together, you still don't trust us!?" 

Hanji continued to bawl as Erwin knelt down next to the chair and hugged her into his chest, muffling the sounds of her hiccups and sobs while the blond frowned and shook his head as Levi. 

"How the fuck am I the bad guy?" Levi grumbled, though his eyes were a bit wide in disbelief at Hanji's dramatic reaction to the news of his panic attack. "And what the fuck is her problem? It's not like somebody died." 

"Hormones," Erwin clarified before going back to shooting Levi disapproving glares. "But she's right, Levi. You should have called us and said something about it. Even if it was after the fact. We could have... done something." 

"Jerk!" he heard Hanji's muffled voice accuse. 

"Damn it," Levi cursed under his breath, removing his glasses and massaging the bridge of his nose. "This is exactly why I don't tell you guys anything. You always make me sound like I'm the only who did something wrong." 

"We're upset because we love you and care about you, Levi. But you don't let anyone help and that... that hurts. We've known each other a long time, we know what you're dealing with and yet, you still don't let us in." Erwin explained, while Hanji nodded along, her sobs subsiding finally. 

"Did you ever think it's because I trust you that I keep this shit to myself!?" Levi nearly yelled back, but was quick to reign his temper back in. The last thing he needed was to have rumors flying around the office that he'd had an argument with his boss and superior. "Fuck," he cursed under his breath, burying his face in his hands and doubling forward. "This is why I hate talking about this shit. Emotions are such a pain in the ass and so are you two." 

"Levi," Came Hanji's now calm voice. It prompted him to look up at her through his parted fingers. "I'm sorry for getting so upset. We just... worry about you so much. Don't take our feelings the wrong way. It's just our way of showing we love you." 

Sighing heavily, Levi slumped back against his chair and allowed his hands to drop from his face, suddenly feeling drained all over again. 

"Yeah, you both seem to have that in common with one stubborn brat of an Assistant of mine." Levi said with a dry laugh. "That idiot cares too much." 

Like a switch had been flipped, Hanji was back to her previous energetic self with the only traces of her random crying fit being the damp tear tracks on her cheeks, but she quickly wiped those away with a handkerchief Erwin had handed her. 

"Give us all the details!" Hanji practically buzzed with excitement as she waited eagerly for Levi to explain. Erwin smiled fondly and kissed his wife's temple before standing back up to smooth out any creases in his suit. 

The raven hesitated, "After my attack passed..." he started, feeling a little shy about talking about this all of a sudden. What the fuck? "When I finally stopped locking myself in the bathroom, Eren was waiting for me outside the door. He looked like he wanted to ask a million questions, but he didn't. He told me he wouldn't ask me for an explanation if it really made me that uncomfortable." 

Erwin had an impressed and approving look on his face, which was a little annoying because it made Levi feel like a teenager for some reason. Erwin and Hanji tended to have that affect on him. 

"Aww," Hanji cooed, her big brown eyes watering up a bit causing Levi to worry that she'd start bawling in the middle of his office again. "What a sweetie! I always knew there was a reason I liked Eren! He's special, that one." 

Rolling his eyes and hoping to hide the traces of warmth he felt in his cheeks, Levi continued. 

"Anyway, after that we both attended the party and played the part of the newly engaged couple as best we could. I'll admit, I was acting like a complete fucking dick thanks to my attack but I tried to play it off. Of course, that stubborn shit of an Assistant of mine noticed I was off for most of the evening and was extremely determined to get me to fess up and tell him what was wrong." 

"I'm starting to like Eren more and more." Erwin smiled. "It seems we've finally found someone who can rival you in terms of stubbornness." 

"Fuck that," Levi said with a suck of his teeth. "I'll gladly admit that he's definitely more stubborn than I am. At least I know when to drop it, Eren doesn't even fucking understand that term." 

"Do tell~" Hanji sang, sitting on the edge of her seat with a look of eager anticipation on her face. "What happened next!?" 

"We got into an argument, shit was said, I was pissed off and tried to get drunk but obviously, that's nearly impossible with my high alcohol tolerance, so, in the end I just got a bit buzzed but... by the end of the night, I figured I may as well just come clean, so I told him everything." 

"You what?" Erwin asked, looking very skeptical. "Everything, as in, _everything_?" 

"Well, no, not _everything_." Levi scowled. "Just the basic shit. Orphan since birth. Shitty Uncle. Isabel and Farlan--" 

"You told him about Isabel and Farlan!?" Hanji nearly screamed, earning her Levi's dark glare. "Levi, I can't believe this! Do you know what this means?!" 

"It means nothing. I was forced to tell him all that shit about myself." 

"But, you opened up to someone other than us or Mike!" 

"Because I _had_ to! Are you even listening, shitty-glasses?" 

"Unless you were strapped to a chair and tortured, then nobody _forced_ you to say anything." came Erwin's smug response. "You _willingly_ told Eren. You're just too proud to admit that you finally opened up and trusted someone outside of the three of us." 

"Out." Levi growled. "Out. Now." 

As if on cue, a set of fast knocks sounded from Levi's door and he scowled in the direction of it.

"Come in," the raven grunted, hoping it was someone coming to him with a work related issue so he'd have an excuse to escape from Hanji and Erwin's relentless teasing. 

"I'm _so_ sorry I'm late, Levi-- Oh!" 

Eren entered the room looking very winded and disheveled, with his shirt a bit wrinkled and the mocha brown cardigan he normally wore slung over his shoulder. His tie was crooked and his hair looked like it had just been combed back with his fingers in a very hurried manner, but then there was the rosy tint to his cheeks and the tip of his nose, telling Levi the brunet had been exposed to the chilly weather outside. 

Overall, Levi felt something in his body relax upon seeing his Assistant's now very familiar face. The tension in his shoulders eased and he let out a sigh of relief. 

"Jaeger," the raven meant to snap, but it lacked any and all heat to it. "You're almost twenty minutes late." 

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry! Good Morning, Miss Hanji. Mr. Smith." Eren sent them both awkward but still charming smiles, to which Hanji and Erwin returned with big smiles of their own. Levi did actually roll his eyes this time. 

"What's the reason for your tardiness?" he asked, sounding more exasperated than chiding. 

"I, um, overslept." came Eren's sheepish answer. "I guess I was more tired than I thought I was going to be." 

Had this sort of thing happened last week, Levi would have let Eren have it, no mercy. Tardiness was one of the things the raven absolutely did not tolerate from his subordinates; second only to his rule about keeping their work space spotless. 

But, Levi could empathize with Eren's plight, seeing as he had also been on the flight with Levi and therefore, he could understand just how tired and thrown off his Assistant would be with the time change. Germany clearly had an effect on the both of them.

"It's fine, Jaeger. I'll let it slide for today." Levi sighed. "Just go put your things away and start powering up your computer. We've got work to do." 

Seeing the way Eren's eyebrows slightly rose toward his hairline, Levi pretended to busy himself with organizing miscellaneous papers that were already stacked neatly on his desk top. 

"Gotcha, boss." came Eren's relieved response. It annoyed Levi to know that he could tell that Eren was smiling just by the sound of his voice. He didn't even need to look at him to see that huge grin.

"Well," Hanji laughed. "That was very unlike you. Why the sudden change in attitude toward your least favorite employee?" 

"Indeed," Erwin hummed in agreement. 

"Tch, I promised Eren I would lay off a bit. Apparently, I'm the next closest thing to Kim Jong Un in this office." 

At Hanji's snort of laughter and Erwin clear disapproval, Levi shrugged and sat a little straighter in his desk after replacing his glasses on his face. 

"Now, if you'll both excuse me. I have to get back to work." 

"Of course," Erwin said politely, motioning for his wife to follow him out of the office. "Come along, Honey bunches." 

"But, Sugar butt!" Hanji whined, and Levi was so very close to gagging. 

Thankfully, Erwin herded his wife out of Levi's chair and then proceeded to guide her out of his office. With a sigh of relief, Levi slumped a bit in his chair knowing full well this definitely wouldn't be the end it. Erwin and Hanji would find more opportunities to corner him and wring more details about the trip out of him. It was bad enough he told them far more than he was comfortable with them knowing. 

"Levi?" Came Eren's uncertain voice. 

The raven looked up to see his Assistant smiling at him in apology as he stepped into his office with his hands wringing nervously in front of him. 

"Do you want me to go across the street to get you a cup of tea? I forgot to get it on my way in."

Ah, that's another thing that was missing from this picture. Normally, Eren was waiting for him either by his office or by his desk with tea and reports ready for him to look over. Right. 

"Actually," Levi started, before he stopped when a thought floated through his mind. 

The last time he'd sent Eren to the Cafe across the street to get his tea, some kid named Mylius had given Eren his number, and Levi couldn't help the ugly twisting feeling in his gut at the thought of Eren being flirted with by some faceless barista in a coffee shop. 

"No," he said with an awkward clearing of his throat. "No, forget about it. It's not that important." 

"You sure?" Eren asked skeptically. 

"Yes, I'm sure." Levi exasperated. "Were there any messages for me?" 

The brunet eyed him for a moment, as if trying to figure out what was up, but Levi did his best to mask any odd feelings he might have had about the thought of Eren flirting with the barista at the coffee shop across the srteet and busied himself with logging into his desktop. 

"You have six messages." 

Thankfully, Eren didn't press for any kind of answers as he stepped into Levi's office and started reading off each message he'd recieved while gone over the weekend.

\- X -

Around lunchtime, Levi did his usual patrol around the bullpen despite the fact that he was more than a little distracted. It was just a tactic he used to scare his subordinates into making sure they were actually working and not just pretending to work, and it required him to do very little. Just walk around the cubicles and glare at a few people while pretending to inspect their work space.

Eren sometimes followed him around during this patrol, and today was no different. Levi was annoyed that he was always hyper aware of Eren's presence next to him or behind him. It was distracting. 

Levi was nearly done with his patrol of the floor when he noticed one of his subordinates, Samuel, sneezing and coughing. The raven came to a full stop at the man's cubicle and raised an eyebrow at the mess of used tissues and couch drop wrappers littered around his desk. 

He could already hear the hushed murmurs of his other subordinates who geared up for Levi to either give Samuel a sever tongue lashing for daring to come into work to spread his germs everything, or for Levi to just fire him the way he had fired that girl, Emily whatever, last week. 

"You sick, Jackson?" came Levi's unimpressed question as he eyed the mess around the desk and frowned. 

Samuel looked up, his eyes red along with the tip of his nose. He swallowed thickly upon seeing Levi staring at his messy desk in obvious disgust. 

"N-No, Mr. Ackerman, Sir." Samuel sniffed. "Just allergies." 

Levi didn't believe that for one second, "Hn, doesn't sound like 'just allergies'." he pointed out with a frown. 

"Levi..." he heard Eren's voice said quietly from off to his side. 

Was he expecting Levi to fire this kid too? The thought was almost laughable, how predictable his subordinates thought he could be. But, Levi had promised Eren that he would try to be a better boss upon returning to home. This was him attempting that. 

"Pack up and go home, Jackson." 

"I-I'm sorry, sir?" 

"You heard me. Pack up and go home, and don't bother coming back in until you're well again. I can't have you getting anyone else sick. Also, be sure to clean up before you go." 

"Um... T-Thank you, sir?" Samuel looked completely thunderstruck as Levi turned and started walking back to his office. 

Upon entering, Levi did a B line for his desk and took a seat. Eren lingered by the door for a moment just staring at him, and it got to the point where Levi was getting annoyed with it. 

"What?" he asked irritably. 

"That was nice of you." Grey looked up at the brunet and Eren seemed to fluster. "I mean, letting Samuel go home early instead of, you know, what you'd normally do if someone came into work sick and spreading germs everywhere. I'm pretty sure the entire office thought you were going to fire him or something." 

Levi sighed, "Well, don't be so surprised. I did say I would try to be a little nicer, didn't I?" 

"Yeah, but, I thought that applied to myself, mostly." the brunet chuckled, finally stepping into Levi's office and taking a seat in one of Levi's leather chairs. "Glad to know you're not just singling me out, though. I would have felt guilty if you did." 

"Yes, well, that just goes to show that you're not going to receive any kind of special treatment." 

"Indeed," a new voice joined their conversation, startling Eren and making Levi scowl upon hearing that familiar condescending tone. "Good Afternoon, Levi." 

"Dok," Levi said by way of an actual greeting. "What brings you to the 23rd floor?" 

"You, actually, and your Assistant. Or should I say, Fiance?" 

There were a few obvious murmurs coming from the bullpen and Levi cursed Nile and his big fucking mouth. He had done his best to make sure nobody else in the office knew about his fake engagement with Eren and this idiot had just announced it to the whole fucking floor.

"G-Good Afternoon, Mr. Dok." Eren fumbled with a greeting as he shot up from his spot on the chair and moved to offer it to Nile. 

Nile, that pretentious dick, took Eren's offered seat and had to audacity to smile politely at Eren. 

"Eren," Levi said, catching his Assistant's attention. "Go ahead and take an early lunch break." 

"Are you sure, Levi?" Eren asked, glancing at Nile with slight worry and curiosity. "I don't mind taking my lunch at the usual time." 

"It's fine." 

The brunet lingered in the office a couple of moments longer, eyeing Levi intensely as though he were trying to figure out if Levi was just trying to get rid of him or not. When he didn't find whatever he was looking for, Eren finally turned and left his office, thankfully shutting the door behind him after he left. 

"So," Nile said, an easy smile on his face that Levi just wanted to punch. "I heard from Erwin that you got into the city late yesterday afternoon from your trip to Germany." 

"Your point?" Levi said coolly. He didn't have time for Nile beating around the bush. "You clearly didn't come all the way to my office just to relay some gossip to me." 

"Easy, Levi." Nile smirked. "I just wanted to ask how your trip with the in-law's was. I'm still a bit shocked to know that you're engaged, so pardon me for wanting to know things are going between you and your Assistant. Hanji mentioned house hunting last time, didn't she?" 

"The trip was fine." the raven answered, leaning back in his chair and crossing a knee over his leg. "His parents were excited about the news, while some of Eren's friends threw us an impromptu engagement party." 

"Yes, about that," the older man said leaning forward in his seat a bit. "I noticed, that neither you nor Eren are wearing engagement rings." 

Levi wanted to grimace at the sleazy way Nile was smirking at him, reminding him once again of a greasy sewer rat or a weasel. His smirk was all sharp teeth and whiskers, if that made any sense. 

"Yes, I'm aware of the lack of rings on our fingers. Eren's mother pointed it out to me this weekend, which is why I'm taking Eren ring shopping." 

"Oh?" Nile said, looking quite surprised. "Well, that's good to hear. When were you planning on doing that?" 

"Today." 

"Ah, is that why you asked Eren to take an early lunch break?" suddenly, Nile was starting to look a bit excited at Levi's words. 

"Yes, now, if you'll excuse me. I have to meet my Fiance at the Jeweler's soon." Levi lied smoothly, standing up from his seat and smoothing down his blazer. 

"Of course, of course! Don't let me keep you." Nile also stood and started for the door while continuing the conversation. "You know, I must say, I'm surprised at you, Levi. Surprised in a good way. I'll admit, at first I thought it was some kind of joke when Hanji mentioned you were engaged to your Assistant, but now I'm starting to see I was wrong." 

"I'm insulted," Levi said in mock offense, though his face stayed carefully blank. 

As Nile reached the door, Levi felt himself relax because he'd managed to keep their cover somehow. 

"Oh, about the house hunting," the taller man said stopping in the doorway just as he was about to leave. "I know a great real estate agent, her name is Cheryl. I highly suggest you and Eren give her a call and have her handle your search. I'll forward you her number. She's also a very close friend, so, I'm sure she'll be happy to do it for you if you just mention my name." 

There was a calculative look in Nile's dark eyes as he turned to smile at Levi just before walking out the door, and Levi couldn't help but feel his stomach sink. Damn. It seemed that Nile still wasn't entirely convinced about his engagement to Eren. Levi thought the engagement ring idea would finally seal the deal, but it looked like it would be harder than he thought. 

"Whatever," Levi grumbled. "Forward the number to Eren. I'll speak with him about it later." 

"Of course. Have a nice time ring shopping, Levi." Oh, Levi could practically taste the sarcasm in that last statement as Nile disappeared out of his office. 

Well, the hardest part was over, now, Levi just had to somehow convince Eren to go ring shopping with him.

\- X -

"I'm sorry, what are we doing inside this Jewelry store again?"

"We're buying engagement rings." 

"Right. But, why?" 

"Because, Nile Dok is a piece of human trash who still doesn't believe that we're really engaged and buying engagement rings will help us keep our cover." 

He and Eren entered the store, Eren trailing behind Levi a step or two as the salesmen and women greeted them both politely. 

"So, are we going to have to wear them all the time?" Eren asked, sounding unsure. 

"No, just when we're at work. Nile already let the cat out of the bag that we're engaged so it'll help us avoid questions. I'm surprised you weren't bombarded or ambushed after I kicked you out of my office." 

"I was." Eren said casually. "I just confirmed that we were engaged and moved on. Everyone seemed shocked, but they didn't really try asking me questions." 

"Good," Levi grunted as they approached a glass case. "The less questions, the better." 

"Hello," A woman greeted them excitedly. She was young and pretty with her blonde hair tied back in a tight bun and a baby pink scarf wrapped around her neck. It was the only splash of color in her otherwise very simple uniform of a black blazer jacket and a black pencil skirt. "Are you looking for anything specific today?" 

"Engagement rings." Levi said bluntly. "Preferably for men." 

"This is little extreme, isn't it?" Eren whispered next to him. "Everything looks really expensive here." 

"Don't be stupid, Eren." Levi murmured back as he followed their pretty sales girl to another glass case on the right side of the room. "It was my idea, so I'm paying, obviously." 

The brunet following after him gave and indignant huff and Levi squashed down the urge to smirk because he liked annoying Eren. It was fun to see him pout and get irritated. He guessed he didn't do a very good job at forcing down his urge to smirk because their sales girl was watching him with a big smile and excited eyes. Shit. 'Tone it down, Levi.' he scolded himself mentally. 'Nobody needs to know that you're actually growing fond of Eren.'

"These are all of our engagement rings for men in this case here. We have some beautiful Platinum plated rings encrusted with diamonds or the gem of your choice." 

The raven turned to Eren finally and noticed the slight starry-eyed Look the brunet was giving to each beautiful ring he saw. Levi snorted softly through his nose because Eren was actually kind of adorable like this. 

"Go ahead and pick whichever one you like best, Eren." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"W-What?" Eren choked out. "Levi, I can't do that! You have to choose!" 

"I said it's fine, you brat. Just choose so we can get this over with." 

"If I may?" the sales girl interjected shyly. "I think you might like this one, sir." 

Levi stepped aside and let Eren move closer to the glass case. Meanwhile, Levi pulled out his cell phone and saw several texts from Hanji. The message preview on his lock screen told him all he needed to know. She was basically just screaming at him about not telling her about ring shopping earlier and now she was mad at him. 

"I think the onyx stone would look perfect for your Fiance, sir." He heard the girl chatting with Eren excitedly, but Levi paid them no mind as he swiped his finger across the lock screen of his phone and started dismissing all the text notifications from Hanji. 

"Levi," he heard Eren call, prompting him to look away from his phone. Eren was smiling sheepishly as he held out his left hand and presented the ring that sat prettily on his tan fingers. "I'm not good with this sort of thing. Does it look too flashy?" 

The raven studied the Platinum band around Eren's slender ring finger and admired the way it contrasted nicely with his sun-kissed skin. It had a single diamond encrusted in the center of it, but the design was otherwise very simple. 

"I think Emerald or Aquamarine would look nicer."

His comment seemed to startle the sales girl, but she quickly recovered and immediately saw what Levi meant by a different gemstone looking better on the ring. 

"I agree, sir! Either one of those stones would compliment your Fiance's eyes nicely." 

Levi noticed the way Eren's cheeks flushed pink and he knew he'd made the right decision. Seeing that flustered look on Eren's face was worth all this trouble. 

"Wait," The raven said, taking his phone and opening up the camera app. 

"What are you doing?" Eren asked, slightly confused as Levi snapped a picture of the ring on his finger. 

"Your mom asked me to take a picture of the new rings we buy." he shrugged, reviewing the picture and liking the way it looked on Eren's finger. "We'll take this set. I want the stone changed on Eren's, though." 

"Um, I'm fine with whatever." the brunet mumbled shyly as he slipped the ring off his finger and handed it back to their sales girl. Levi took the time to look at her name tag; her name was Liz. "What about you, Levi? Liz says the onyx will look nice on you." 

"Yes! I believe the onyx would be the perfect choice for you, sir!" Liz agreed eagerly. 

"Whatever," Levi said, sending the picture to both Hanji and Eren's mother. (Yes, Levi was sending the picture to Eren's mother. He would never admit it, but he was curious to know what Carla's reaction to the ring would be.) 

"Very nice choice, sir." 

Levi's phone buzzed with dual responses from Hanji and Eren's mother and it had him immediately snorting in amusement as he opened Carla's reply first. 

"Your mother liked the ring." the raven said looking up at a horrified Eren. 

"You sent the picture to my mom!?" he squeaked. Not even a second later, Eren's phone buzzed and he was fishing it out to find a text from his mother as well. "Damn, she really liked the ring." 

"That's what I said," Levi shrugged. 

"Um, Liz, exactly how much are the rings?" Eren asked, smiling sheepishly at the blonde girl for asking. 

"Oh, these? They're $5,300." 

"Shit," came Eren's curse under his breath as he stared at the expensive rings still in Liz's hand. Then, he turned to Levi with a smug smile and said, "This Gentleman will pay for everything." 

Rolling his eyes, Levi was immediately taking out his wallet and sighing. 

"You would pick the most expensive thing in this store, Jaeger." he grumbled, despite the fact that he wasn't actually all that upset about the price of the rings. 

Eren's mother had given her approval and that was enough satisfaction for Levi. Though, why he cared if Carla liked the rings or not was really not something Levi wanted to think about right now. 

"Hey, this wasn't even my idea. Besides, you said you'd pay for everything and then told me to pick whatever I liked best." the brunet pouted. 

"I know what I said, Eren." Levi sighed. "I'm not complaining. I'm just pointing out a fact." 

From the front, they heard Liz and another older gentlemen giggling and chuckling at their banter prompting Eren and Levi to look at them. Levi was raising an eyebrow in question while Eren smiled shyly and laughed nervously. 

"I'm sorry," Liz said with an apologetic smile. "It's just, you're both so cute together. We get a lot of couples in here, but you're by far the most interesting." 

"Oh," Came Eren's flustered response. "Um, T-Thank you." 

"We don't get a lot of same-sex couples, either. But we're very excited to have you come in. When is the wedding date?" the older man asked, Levi read his name as 'George' on his tag. 

"Oh, um, well, I don't think we've really... decided yet?" Eren said, glancing over to Levi with unsure eyes. 

"Sometime in the summer, probably." Came Levi's easy lie. 

"Oh, a Summer wedding. That's nice." George sighed wishfully. "Well, congratulations. Come around to this counter over here, Sir, and we'll get your purchase all squared away." 

Nodding, Levi followed George over to another counter with a register and fished out one of his credit cards to pay while Eren stayed with Liz who chatted him up excitedly. 

After paying, George informed Levi that he and Eren would have to come back in for a fitting and they'd have to wait to have their rings prepared to their request, that included the resetting of new gemstones. It may have seemed like Levi was going a bit overboard with this fake-engagement, but the happy look on Eren's face made it hard for him to really care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, they're back in New York and I'm slowly setting them up for bigger things to come! 
> 
> MUCH EXCITE FOR NEXT FEW CHAPTERS!! Also, how adorable is Levi while ring shopping? What a dumb-dumb. DON'T RUN AWAY FROM THE GAY THOUGHTS, LEVI! EMBRACE THEM!


	11. On my way to your Apartment (I hear the coast)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! A bit of a late update happening here! I've been a little busy this past week/weekend and haven't had much luck with sitting down to write anything. I've been practicing my guitar again and my fingers were in so much pain last week! Then, I had to take a couple of days to just plot out what's going to happen in the next few chapters here. 
> 
> So, the next 2-3 chapters will probably be a little filler-ish? I mean, it'll be filled with Ereri fluff and nonsense but they won't entirely be fillers. They're more like build-up chapters for bigger things I have planned. It's all important build up stuff, I promise! 
> 
> Also, I'll be including a little Eren POV change at the end of the next few chapters because it's something super important and I think y'all will really like it! Anyway! Here's this chapter, which delves a little more into Levi's past with Isabel and Farlan. 
> 
> MANY SAD FEELS! 
> 
> P.S. Thank my gorgeous Waifu, Paulinkaaxx, for the dinner party suggestion which led to this entire chapter happening and also the next 3-4 chapters! SHE'S THE BEST AND I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!
> 
> P.S.S. There is a link to a pinterest board in this chapter! I highly suggest clicking on it and checking it out!

Thursday morning, Levi got a call from the Jewelers telling him his purchase was ready for pick up. 

Needless to say, that Thursday morning had been a bit of a challenge to get through. Levi almost felt _bad_ for Eren, considering the brunet was the one who was getting ambushed by nearly every single person he worked with on the 23rd floor, just so they could all fawn over the expensive band around his finger. 

But, at the same time, Levi couldn't really find it in himself to feel all that bad. The ring complimented everything about his Assistant, and the aquamarine stone in the center of it only further flattered Eren's eyes. So, no, Levi didn't really regret the rather pricey purchase, in the end. 

He'd gotten a few interested glances and stares at his own matching ring, with it's sparkling onyx stone that Eren had said matched his hair. Though, Levi would never openly admit that he found the ring rather fetching as well. It just looked _right_ on his finger, and it stirred something confusing and curious in the pit of his stomach at the thought of it each time he looked down and saw the platinum band, or felt it's cool weight on his finger.

"Wow," Erwin had said, sounding very impressed at the sight of Levi's new ring. "That's quite a piece of jewelry. Not exactly the design I myself would have gone with, but the onyx stone looks nice on you." 

"Yeah, it does!" Hanji had chimed in, lunging toward Levi's sitting figure and making a grab for his left hand. 

The raven scowled while snatching his hand out of her reach. Hanji had pouted petulantly at him, but Levi didn't really care. 

"It wasn't my choice. The brat picked them out, I just asked for the stone setting to be changed on his." 

"You let Eren pick the rings?" came Erwin's amused voice. "That's a surprise. I would have expected you to be in charge of something like that, being the control freak you are." 

"I'm not a control freak." Levi rolled his eyes. "I'm a perfectionist with Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies." 

The blond shrugged, "Eh, semantics." Which Levi knew was Erwin's smart ass way of saying 'Whatever.' 

"Why are you two even here?" the raven sighed. 

"Can't we come and visit our child's future God Father?" Hanji beamed. 

At her words, Levi's eyes snapped up toward the idiotically affectionate couple while his hands stopped furiously typing away at his computer's keyboard. 

"What?" he asked in a dangerously calm tone of voice. One that betrayed the absolute miffed look on his face. "Tell me I misheard you so we can all laugh about my old age and move on." 

"Nope!" the brunette sang, popping the 'P' loudly. 

"We've already decided that we'd want you to look after our child, should anything happen to either of us." Erwin chipped in. 

"Don't I get a say in this?" the raven frowned, turning in his chair to settle his two closest friends with a very clear display of consternation. "I'm not good with children. We've established this several times before." 

"Nonsense!" Hanji declared with a bark of laughter. "You'd be a great guardian! You're tough but not unnecessarily cruel, despite what you like to lead other people to believe." Her brown eyes glinted knowingly at him. "Erwin and I know that as soon as this kid is born, you'll be the world's biggest softy of an Uncle, and yes-- you better believe our child will call you Uncle Levi. You're family, no matter what you say." 

Levi had opened his mouth halfway through Hanji's explanation, but any further complaints he'd had quickly died on his tongue when she bulldozed forward and referred to him as family. That was the second time in the last week someone had called him family and it definitely made his heart ache a little.

He suddenly felt like such a fool-- Levi just had to take a moment to chuckle at himself, because for the past thirty-something years of his life, he dwells so much on the fact that he was always alone and family-less that he never took the time to appreciate the little family that Hanji and Erwin had offered to be for him. Now, they were expanding their little family and they still wanted him to be part of it, despite the fact that he was overall a hard person to deal with on a good day and an absolute terror most other days. 

"Alright, fine." he relented, though there was a trace of a smile lingering on his thin lips. "I'll be your brat's God Father, but I'm not happy about it. Fuck, I'm not even religious. You do realize I'm the worst possible candidate for this job, don't you?" 

"You're the only candidate we'd ever accept." Erwin said with a fond smile. "There's no one else we'd want more for this job." 

"Exactly!" Hanji beamed. 

Grey eyes stared at the very happy (and pregnant) couple sitting across from him and he just--... Levi couldn't believe Hanji and Erwin trusted him this much. To be responsible for raising their kid if they both died? That was not something Levi would ever think himself capable of. He was barely emotionally and mentally stable enough to take care of himself most days, yet, here his two best friends were taking this giant leap of faith on him. 

Levi sighed and to his annoyance, it was a very obvious sigh of relief. He couldn't be upset or irritated with Hanji and Erwin right now, even if he tried. 

"You're both fucking insane, do you realize that?" 

"Birds of a feather," Erwin hummed with a nod of his head. 

"That's really not something you should be proud of," Levi pointed out with a snort. 

"Knock, knock." Nile's irritating voice interrupted their playful banter. 

Levi immediately frowned, his good mood flying out the window as the lanky raven invited himself in. He smiled at Hanji and Erwin, who both smiled back. He couldn't understand how Erwin put up with Nile, nor how Hanji tolerated him. Just seeing the man's weasel face annoyed Levi to no end. 

"I hope I wasn't interrupting?" 

"Not at all," Erwin said. "Hanji and I were just admiring Levi and Eren's new engagement rings. They're quite something." 

"Oh?" Nile drawled. "Yes, I do recall Levi saying he was going ring shopping the other day. I'm surprised you were able to find something so quickly." 

"Eren picked them out." Hanji supplied helpfully. "Aren't they just the cutest?" 

"Yes..." the taller raven said with an awkward clearing of his throat. Levi almost allowed an eyeroll to slip.

"So, what brings you to Levi's floor, Nile?" Erwin asked, thankfully changing the subject. 

"Well, actually, I came to ask Levi if he'd be alright if I invited myself over for dinner with him and Eren." Dark eyes flashed over to him briefly before Nile was smiling in that greasy way of his that just made Levi's skin crawl. "I hope I'm not wrong in assuming that since you and Eren are house hunting, you're already living together."

Clenching his jaw, Levi took a moment to just glare at Nile. _Of course_ , he just had to pull something like this. Was he just trying to fuck with Levi? At this point, he wouldn't put it past him. Nile wasn't nearly as stupid as Levi liked to think he was, which infuriated the shorter raven to no end. 

"We are." came Levi's tight response. Distantly, he knew he was probably just digging Eren and himself in a deeper hole of shit, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. Proving Nile wrong was more important to him at the moment. "We'd be a pretty stupid couple not to be living together for at least a while before deciding to house hunt. Wouldn't you agree?" 

Nile's smile only widened at his words, "My thoughts precisely. So, I hope this Saturday isn't too soon?" 

"Not at all. Will you be bringing your wife?" 

"Oh, no, no. I'm afraid my wife is visiting her sister this weekend. It's just me." 

Levi shrugged, hoping he was doing even just the tiniest bit of a good job pretending to be casual and nonchalant about this whole situation. Internally, he was starting to panic just a little bit. Eren was going to be so pissed at him for lying about them living together. 

"Whatever. Bring your own alcohol, and by that, I mean bring a bottle of your most expensive wine." 

A bark of laughter was his response from Nile before the man was turning to leave his office. 

"Of course, I wouldn't be so rude as to not bring the very best." Just as he reached the door, Nile turned and addressed Erwin and Hanji who were both silently watching the conversation between Levi and Nile with very amused and excited expressions. Well, excited from Hanji. Erwin was better at hiding his excitement, but Levi could just see it sparkling in his too blue eyes. That dick. "Will you be joining us, Erwin, Hanji?" 

"Naturally," Erwin nodded with a pleased smile. 

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Hanji laughed. 

"Good, then, I'll see you all on Saturday." With that said, Nile finally left Levi's office and the raven immediately slumped forward in his chair while burying his face in his hands. 

"Why the fuck did I say that Eren and I were living together? What the fuck is wrong with me?" he asked no one in particular. 

"Beats me, Munchkin. We're as stumped on that question as you are." 

Levi lifted his head up just a bit and glared at his still smiling best friend, "It was a rhetorical question." 

"How are you going to explain this mess to Eren?" Erwin asked, having at least the fucking decency to look sympathetic for Levi's not so little problem. 

"How is who going to tell me what?" came a voice Levi did not want to hear right now. 

He whipped his head up from his hands and saw a very suspicious looking Eren standing in his doorway eyeing Erwin and Hanji warily. Well, Levi couldn't blame him for that. He probably would have been just as suspicious if he walked in on a conversation about himself too. 

"Right, Okay, um..." Well, fuck. Didn't Levi feel so very articulate in that moment as his mouth decided to forget what words were. 

He tapped his fingers over the top of his desk for a moment as Eren's wary gaze was suddenly on him now and-- fuck, Levi wasn't good at this shit. Why did he have to lie to Nile about this!? He could have just told him the truth, which was that he and Eren _weren't_ living together. Then he could have fed Nile some bullshit excuse about them wanting to wait until they found the right house together, but now it was too late for that and he was going to have to tell Eren. 

"Levi told Nile that you and him are living together and now Nile is coming over for dinner and my honey buns and I are invited as well!" Hanji blurted out before Levi could even open his mouth to explain the exact same thing. Well, maybe not the exact same thing. He definitely would have worded it differently. 

"You what!?" came Eren's outraged question. "Why would you say something like that, are you insane!?" 

"First of all," Levi said in a voice much calmer than he actually felt. "Come inside and shut the door behind you. We don't need the rest of the floor hearing this conversation." 

Eren looked very keen on disobeying his order at first, opening his mouth and closing it a couple of times before growling quietly and complying in the end. However, once the door was shut behind him, the brunet wasted no time in continuing to give Levi a piece of his mind. 

"Why would you tell Nile that we're living together when _clearly_ we're not! I barely even know where you live, and that's only because I had to drop off your dry cleaning!" 

"Eren--" 

"You don't even know where I live! What would possess you to lie about us living together!? We're gonna get busted and I'm gonna lose my job!" 

"Eren!" Levi nearly shouted. His slightly raised voice startled the brunet enough to get him to close his mouth and then Levi was sighing. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but Eren wouldn't shut his mouth long enough for him to speak. "Look, brat. I'm just as clueless as you are as to why I lied about this, but I already told Nile we were living together and I can't take it back now without making it look suspicious. So, we're just going to have to go along with it and make it seem like we've been living together for a little while now. End of story."

Eren sighed, "And how exactly are we supposed to do that? When is Nile even supposed to come over for this Dinner, anyway?" 

"Saturday," Erwin supplied helpfully. "You've got about 48 hours to prepare." 

"Fantastic." Levi's Assistant laughed, sounding just the tiniest bit hysterical at this point. Again, Levi couldn't really blame him. 

"It's fine," Levi spoke up. "Eren and I will take our lunch break off and figure things out. We'll worry about the specifics later." 

"Hold on there, short stuff." Hanji interrupted. "Who's apartment is this dinner going to happen at? Naturally, I would think yours, right?" 

"Naturally." snorted the raven with an eye roll. 

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Eren frowned at his boss. "Why can't it happen at my apartment?" 

"And where is it you live exactly?" Levi asked. 

"... Near Greenwich village." 

"And, how big is your apartment?" 

"... it's a one bedroom." 

"Let me guess, open front room layout?" 

"So! What's wrong with that? It's not like your apartment can possibly be any bigger just because it's in Central Park East." 

Sitting up a little straighter in his chair, Levi propped his elbows on top of his desk and threaded his fingers together. 

"My apartment is two bedrooms, one and a half baths, and my dining room can seat at least six people. Not to mention, the front lobby of my building has 24/7 security and an elevator." 

Eren crossed his arms over his chest and huffed indignantly, causing a slight flutter of Levi's heart because the brunet looked absolutely adorable when he was being stubborn like this. It made the corners of Levi's mouth turn up a bit, but he was able to cover it up behind his threaded hands, thankfully.

"Fine, whatever! Your place it is. I don't even care anymore." 

Despite wanting very much to tease the brunet over his sudden petulant behavior, Levi managed to stomp down that urge. 

"Good, that's one less thing for us to argue about." 

"Aww," Hanji cooed, looking back and forth between Levi and his pouting assistant. "You two are already acting like a cute married couple!" 

Eren blinked at the other brunette before he looked down at his shoes and cleared his throat awkwardly. 

"So, now what are we supposed to do? Shouldn't I... I don't know, move some of my stuff into your place?" At Levi's raised eyebrow and prolonged silence, Eren rushed to explain. "N-Not like my furniture or anything, but just little things! Like, um, I don't know, some DVD's and Books and pictures and stuff like that?" 

"That's actually not a bad idea, Levi." Erwin piped up. "Nile's not as dumb as you like to believe he is. He'll definitely be looking for any signs of you and Eren sharing the apartment. Just having Eren there during dinner won't be enough." 

"Tch, I know that." Levi grumbled. "I agree with Eren's idea, however, I have one fucking condition." At Eren's curious stare, Levi clarified. "I have to do a screening of the shit you're bringing into my apartment. No weird crap." 

"Oh, damn." Eren sighed in a sarcastic tone. "I guess bringing all my BDSM porn is out of the question." 

Hanji began to howl with laughter while Erwin chuckled quietly at her side. Levi didn't find Eren's joke all that funny and it wasn't because he found it arousing in the least. 

The raven frowned, "Don't be a shit, Jaeger. It's a completely justified reason. It's my apartment and I expect to keep it a certain way-- fake-living together or not." 

The younger man rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever. When do you wanna do this 'screening' of yours, then?" 

"How about today?" Hanji suggested, once she'd recovered from her laughing fit. She lifted her glasses up and wiped away tears as well, which Levi thought was just a little too much of an exaggeration. Eren's joke wasn't _that_ funny. "You could both just go back to Eren's apartment together during your lunch break and Nile would be none the wiser. Erwin and I will even cover for you and tell him you both left for an early lunch date." 

"How can I trust that you won't tell Nile and Eren and I took off early for a Nooner?" 

Levi heard Eren give a quiet squeak of surprise and he couldn't hide the smirk that quickly grew on his face, even if he wanted to. His Assistant was simply too easy to embarrass in situations like this. It was hard for Levi not to just endlessly try to fuck with him and get him to blush. 

"Well, I mean, would it be an entirely bad thing if I suggested it?" Hanji asked sheepishly. "It's not like it would be hurting your cover or anything! If Nile thinks you're both boning each other in the middle of the day, it just helps make this fake engagement all the more convincing!" 

"Indeed," Erwin agreed. 

"Don't encourage her, Eyebrows." Levi frowned. "You're supposed to be the voice of reason here." 

"Ah, yes, but what fun is it being the voice of reason when it means being unable to embarrass you a little?" the blond laughed. 

"I hate both of you. Get the fuck out of my office."

\- X -

That afternoon found Levi and Eren together at his small one bedroom apartment.

True to his word, Eren's apartment was in the general vicinity of Greenwich village, and to Levi's odd amusement, it was across from a small irish pub and deli. The neighborhood wasn't terrible, a bit on the noisy side with all it's small shops and people walking their dogs, but not horribly so. Still, it wasn't exactly Levi's cup of tea at his current age. He preferred peace and quiet and lots of privacy. 

Eren had welcomed him into his small apartment, which Levi discovered was simple but not bland in terms of decor. The walls and trim were all painted a white color that didn't make it look as surgical as one would think when hearing the term 'white walls'. Normally, Levi associated white walls with Hospitals, but he didn't get that impression with Eren's apartment at all. Even the ceiling was white, which contrasted nicely with the shiny hardwood flooring. 

As Levi had also predicted correctly, Eren's apartment was all one open floor with the Kitchen, living room and main room all overlooking one another. Still, to his surprise, it was cleaner and neater than he was expecting it to be. There was the random item placed here or there, like a closed box of ceral left out on one of the kitchen counter tops and the stray neck tie hanging over the back of Eren's small sectional sofa. 

"Sorry if it's a little messy," the brunet had apologized as he fluttered around his living room and picked up the neck tie and another article of clothing Levi hadn't noticed upon his first sweep of the place. "I was in a rush getting ready this morning and, well, I wasn't expecting company at all. Let alone my clean freak Boss." 

"Well," Levi said running a finger tip across the edge of a wall shelf that had various books and DVD cases. He was very pleased to find no dust. "It's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to look like a tornado had torn through here." 

"Rude," Eren huffed as he darted through the only door in the whole apartment, which wasn't hard to guess was definitely Eren's bedroom. "I'm not a slob! I'm just a little lazy sometimes and forget to pick up or put away things sometimes. I'm only human." 

"Alright, Jaeger. Let's go down the list of things you'll need to pack to bring back to my place." 

Almost as quickly as he had entered his bedroom, Eren was popping back out. "Ready when you are, Boss." 

"First of all, Nile will probably be on the look out for little personal things like Erwin said. So, pick some movies and books to put in my shelf. Mind you, this is a screening and anything I don't deem worthy is staying behind." the raven pointed out with a sharp glare. 

"Yes, yes, I'm aware." the brunet said with a flippant wave of his hand. 

Eren moved over to the shelf that Levi was standing by and started going through his collection with such intense focus. His brows were furrowed in concentration while his bright eyes narrowed and read through each movie and book title. Levi watched him for a bit before he also diverted his gaze to the rows and rows of movies and book titles, just for the sake of not being caught staring. 

"Um, how about The Lord of the Rings trilogy?" Eren asked after a minute of silence. 

"Lord of the Rings? Seriously?" Levi asked with a roll of his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" 

"Okay, then how about The Hobbit trilogy?" 

"Are you shitting me right now, Eren? You have both Trilogies?" 

"And the books." 

"..... Fine. Whatever. That's six movies and two books. You've got six more movies and four more books to choose." 

"I have a limit?" the brunet snorted, but upon seeing Levi's flat stare, he frowned. "Shit, okay, um... oh! Can I bring Disney movies?" 

"... Which disney movies?" The raven sighed, fearing the worst. 

"Mulan?" 

"Fine." 

"The Aristocats?" 

"Whatever." 

"Lion King!!" 

"Yes. Okay, that's more than enough Disney." 

"There's never enough disney movies, Levi!!" 

Sighing, Levi looked at all the DVD's in Eren's arms and frowned. What more could he possibly take? 

"Am I fake-engaged to a child now? Pick something a little more Mature, Eren." 

"Fine, fine!" 

As Eren turned back to his task, Levi decided to help him figure out what his last three movies would be so they could hurry up and move on. He didn't want to spend his entire lunch break helping Eren sort out his shit, despite wanting to snoop around his Assistant's apartment anyway. 

One particular movie title caught Levi's attention and he was quickly reaching up to pull it down. He refused to acknowledge Eren's little snicker at the fact that he had to reach up a bit on his tip-toes to get it. 

"Take this one." he said, handing Eren the movie titled The Fifth Element. 

"You like The Fifth Element?" the younger man asked, his face unable to mask the surprise he was feeling at the moment. 

Levi shrugged, not wanting to meet Eren's eyes directly, so he chose to peruse more of his Assistant's movies and books for himself. 

"Hanji made me watch it when we were in college. I didn't want to at first because it seemed like a really cheesy low budget sci-fi movie, but I ended up liking it." 

"Huh," Eren smirked. "Who's your favorite character?" 

"The cat." 

"Seriously...?" 

"Okay, you caught me." Levi said with a dramatic sigh. "It's actually Ruby." 

"Ruby!?" Eren laughed. "Wait a minute..." he paused, turning narrowed eyes on Levi who was just waiting for the sarcasm to hit Eren. "You're just messing with me, right? I bet your favorite character is actually Leeloo." 

"No, it's Ruby." Levi repeated, his face carefully blank. It was too much fun fucking with Eren. 

The brunet seemed to take a couple of moments to just stare at Levi to try and figure out if he was fucking with him, which he was, but after awhile, he seemed to lose interest. 

"Whatever," he said with a shrug. "Let's pick the next two movies and move on." 

Deciding it wasn't worth dragging out, Levi dropped the subject of the Fifth Element and continued searching Eren's shelf for more movies he deemed worthy. Then, another particular title caught his eye for interesting reasons. 

"Um, when the fuck did they make a Sherlock movie?" 

Eren turned and looked at him with eyes so wide, Levi worried they might actually pop out of their sockets. What the fuck? Did he say something weird? 

"What did you just say?" the brunet asked, sounding completely and utterly bewildered by Levi's question. 

"What?" Levi grumbled, suddenly feeling a little insecure that he'd just asked a really stupid question. "You have a DVD here that says 'Sherlock' and I asked when they made Sherlock Holmes into a fucking movie." 

"Levi," Eren started, fully turning to face his Boss with a slow forming smile on his stupidly handsome face. "Don't you ever watch the BBC?" 

"BBC?" the raven parroted. "Like, British Broadcast?" 

"Yes, exactly that." 

"Why the hell would I watch the BBC, Eren? Last time I checked, I'm not British." The brunet suddenly seemed very smug and Levi crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive manner. "What the fuck is it, you shit? Just spit it out." 

"Sherlock is a Television show. It's a modern rendition of Arthur Conan Doyle's books." 

"Clearly." Levi scoffed. "I've read the books, Eren. I know what the fuck Sherlock Holmes is and what it's about. I just wasn't aware it had been turned into a fucking TV show." 

"It's insanely good. You should watch it, if you liked the books." the brunet suggested, looking very excited all of a sudden. 

"Pass," the raven dismissed with finality. "I have better things to do with my time than watch TV shows." 

"Suit yourself. I'm taking Sherlock with me, anyway." 

"Whatever. What's your last movie going to be? Hurry up and pick so we can finish up here. We still have to take all this shit back to my apartment when we're done." 

"Oh! Okay, last movie has to be Princess Mononoke!" 

"Princess what?" 

"Princess Mononoke! You know, Hayao Miyazaki?" 

"The fuck is that?" 

Eren seemed to be gradually losing his patience with Levi's ignorance over some of these movie titles, but it's not like it was his fault. Levi was a mature thirty-two year old man who acted the way a thirty-two-year-old man should act. Yes, he enjoyed a good 90's Disney movie as much as the next 90's kid did, but he didn't make a habit of buying and collecting them. So what if he didn't watch BBC Television? He didn't need to watch the BBC. Levi hated most television anyway. 

"How do you not know who Hayao Miyazaki is!? Haven't you ever seen Spirited Away? Howl's Moving Castle? Castle in the Sky? My Neighbor Totoro? ANYTHING?" 

"Eren," the older man sighed, suddenly feeling very old in the presence of his younger Assistant. "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm not exactly a very big film buff? Name one time you've ever heard me mention watching a movie or even going to a movie theatre. It just doesn't happen." 

"But, Levi! Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest Japanese Directors and writers of all time! He's won Academy Awards and has been nominated several times for his films! How have you not even at least heard his name before, let alone his most popular movies?" 

"Again, a movie or film buff I am not. I seldom pay attention to current events and media unless it's relevant to something regarding work." 

Eren fell silent at this, staring at Levi with a particularly strange look on his face. The older man could only describe it as an odd mix of pity, realization and maybe just a little bit of determination. 

"That's it, then. I'm taking Sherlock and Princess Mononoke." 

"Fantastic," the raven said flatly. "Let's move the fuck on. Next, pick four books you wanna take. I don't even care what they are anymore." 

"You sure?" Eren drawled. "What if I own a copy of 50 Shades of Gray and I decided to bring that?" 

"Don't bother, I already have a copy of it at my apartment." At the choked noise of surprise from his Assistant, Levi regarded him with a cool stare before he allowed a tiny little smirk of his own to show. "You wanna be a little shit, well, two can play this game, Jaeger. Pick your books, nothing stupid." 

"Why aren't you this good-humored in the office?" he heard his Assistant grumble quietly as the brunet went about browsing his own bookshelf. 

Levi didn't bother answering that. The obvious lie to that question would be that Levi didn't _have_ a sense of humor, but the honest answer was that Levi's sense of humor was mostly toilet-based and a bit on the dark side. Most people found his jokes offensive. 

He didn't really give a shit. 

"Once you're done picking out books, you need to pack some clothes. Then, shoes. Then toiletries." 

"Toiletries?" Eren repeated, turning a very confused look on Levi. 

"Shampoos, body wash. Whatever is it you use to clean yourself, Eren." 

"I know what Toiletries are," the younger man huffed. "I just meant, is it really necessary for me to bring all that? I highly doubt Nile would be rude enough to snoop around someone else's apartment for... intimate things like that." 

Levi shrugged, "Better safe than sorry. I'm not taking the risk of him getting suspicious just because he didn't see two toothbrushes instead of just mine. By the way, I'm going to the store later and buying you a new toothbrush and other shit you'll need."

"Why do I need a new toothbrush?" 

"Please tell me you're fucking joking right now?" At Eren's owlish stare, Levi sighed in frustration. "Like hell I'm going to let you bring your _used_ toothbrush to sit next to mine in my bathroom. I'd sooner drink drain cleaner than have that happen." 

Levi heard the brunet snort and roll his eyes before he went about picking out several book titles. If he had to guess, Levi would say that Eren just randomly chose and figured that was good enough. It sure as hell looked that way, judging by the way he just grabbed and stacked the books aside along with the movies.

"Right, I keep forgetting that you're a clean freak." 

"Shut up. I'm not a clean freak." 

"Sure."

\- X -

****  
_Eren's P.O.V._  


In the end, Levi ended up letting Eren leave work early in order for him to move his stuff into his Boss' upscale Central Park East apartment. 

Eren had gotten a couple of strange looks from the doorman and a woman who was coming out of the elevator when he was getting on. To his annoyance, nobody bothered to offer their help when they saw him clearly struggling with a giant box of his things along with a suitcase full of clothes and shoes rolling behind him. The doorman had done his job, which was to open the fucking door for him, but that had been the extent of his generosity. 

Why did Levi's apartment have to be in such a snobby neighborhood? Eren immediately felt out of place as soon as he stepped out of the cab that had dropped him off in front of the building, but it wasn't like he could back out now just because he was a little intimidated by the swanky building. 

Naturally, the Lobby was just as posh as the outside of the building, with it's shiny marble flooring and the high end looking gold plated elevator doors. It wasn't as sleek or modern as Eren had originally thought upon first meeting his boss. The brunet had been to this Lobby on a few different occasions over the past three years, but this was the first time he was actually taking the Elevator up to Levi's actual apartment. 

Thankfully, he knew the floor and apartment number, so he wouldn't have to stop at the much too large oak desk with granite and gold accents to ask the young woman standing behind it for information. She'd eyed Eren suspiciously as soon as she noticed the box in his hands and the fact that he was heading straight for the elevator doors, but the brunet had simply smiled politely, which, thankfully seemed to disarm her. Not by much, she still eyed Eren warily, but at least it wasn't nearly as bad as it was when he first walked in. 

Levi lived on the top floor, which, Eren supposed wasn't all that surprising. His boss was a man who liked his privacy and wasn't exactly keen on noise, so, upstairs neighbors were definitely out of the question. 

The Elevator ride up was quick, to his pleasure, and before long Eren was standing before the very elegant white door of Apartment 6D. He'd had to set the box down next to his feet in order to fish through his pant pocket for the extra key Levi had given him, and when he successfully opened the door, Eren was hit with the suspicious scent of lemon Pledge and possibly a hint of Lavender. 

The foyer was illuminated in the soft natural light of the early evening, and Eren was immediately surprised to see that Levi's apartment wasn't nearly as dark and empty as he had expected it to be. 

Normally, he associated the colors grey, black and white with his boss. Occasionally, a deep navy blue as well, but, the warm cream colored walls and off-white trim and ceiling were not what he had been expecting at all. 

Once he'd carried in his box and rolled in his small suitcase, Eren was sighing with relief. He couldn't believe all the trouble he was going through just for fake-moving in. It was almost as taxing as moving into a new apartment for real. 

Before he started unpacking, as per Levi's instructions, Eren decided to just take the time out to explore his Boss's apartment while the man was out. He was about to take one step past the foyer when Eren hesitated; he belatedly noticed that Levi's apartment was mostly soft ivory-colored carpeting and Eren didn't want to be responsible for tracking in any dirt of any kind. Knowing Levi, he'd make him get down on his hands and knees and scrub his carpet until it was spotless again. 

Sighing, Eren toed off his cognac lace up boots and lined them up neatly in a corner with a pair of other shoes that were so obviously Levi's. Shiny black Chukka boots that were lined up perfectly against the white trim of the wall. Following example, Eren lined his shoes up close to Levi's and proceeded to explore the very impressive apartment. 

Levi hadn't been exaggerating when he said his place would definitely be the best choice for this Dinner party. It was nothing compared to his tiny open front room layout near Greenwich Village, but each individual room was more than spacious enough. 

He admired the off-white sectional sofa that was probably double the size of his own couch, and of course, it was in pristine condition with matching cream and white cushions. There was a matching love seat off to the left of the sectional and a sturdy looking oak coffee table with an impressive gold and ivory runner going across it. The whole front room looked like something you'd see in a Home Goods ad or something. 

In fact, the more of Levi's apartment he explored, the more Eren noticed the lack of any personal touches. It all looked so immaculate and untouched, it almost made him wonder if Levi even lived in this apartment at all. 

The more surprising thing of all, though, was the fact that it was just so... traditional. That was a word Eren would never associate with Levi Ackerman in a million years. Everything about his Boss was unconventional to an extreme. He briefly wondered if Levi had just hired a professional Decorator, because this was all just so... unlike Levi. At least, from Eren's perspective. 

"Freaky," he mumbled to himself quietly. "But still pretty nice." 

The brunet felt his stomach rumble and he groaned, rubbing a hand over his abdominal area. His jerk of a Boss hadn't even bothered to treat him to a quick lunch considering all that he was making Eren do. 

That was another thing-- Levi was probably the most confusing human being Eren had ever encountered in his life. For the last three years, Eren had spent absolutely loathing his Boss. The man was simply a tyrant; or at least, that's what Eren had believed up until the trip to his parent's home in Germany. 

Germany had been an eye opening experience, in terms of learning about his Boss. Maybe a little too much, if Eren were being honest. It was basically one giant mess of emotions, revelations and confessions. 

Before the trip, Levi had just been his tyrannical boss who seemed to get joy out of making his life miserable and who was most likely a soulless dream smashing demon straight from hell. But... then Eren had seen how awkward and uncomfortable he'd been around his mother, had seen the clear apprehension in his usually guarded eyes when he'd been forced to go to two different social events with complete strangers and had seen the absolute panic on his normally blank face when he'd accidentally walked in on a very half-naked Levi and seen all the tattoos on his skin. 

If Eren hadn't chased after him when Levi had fled and locked himself in the bathroom, then the brunet probably wouldn't have heard or even known about the obvious panic attack the older man must have had after that incident. 

The sound of Levi's shaky, uneven breathing and the faint whispers of 'you're fine, you're okay, just breathe.' being repeated until they faded into complete silence still plagued Eren's mind like a cursed melody. Hearing that had been absolutely heartbreaking and Eren had decided then and there that he had to stop assuming so much about his Boss who was still such an enigma to him. 

Then, there had been the kiss-- or rather, the kisses. Maybe it was all in his head, or maybe it was just because that weekend in Germany had been pretty fucked up and weird to begin with, but when Eren had kissed Levi that second time-- had tasted the beer and the slight hint of Whiskey on his mouth, it had been absolutely intoxicating. Not just the taste, but the overall sensation of Levi's thin lips pressed against his, doing their best to keep up with his own slightly drunken, hungry kisses. 

It was something that Eren sometimes thought about in the middle of the nights, when he was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. He would think about that kiss, or he would think about the rock hard body with endless expanses of pale skin stretched across sculpted muscles, or the beautiful pink magnolias each inked onto a strong broad shoulder. Even the elegant grey cursive writing that was scrawled across his collarbone or the tree swallow with it's wings stretching upward against his left rib cage. 

Each piece of body art told it's own individual story, and Levi had trusted him enough to tell him what those stories were. Even if they were just brief summaries, Eren couldn't help but ache whenever he replayed Levi's words that night in his head. He'd learned so much about him and yet it still felt like it wasn't the entire story. There was more Levi hadn't told him, but it wasn't Eren's place to ask, no matter how much he was dying to know. 

In the end, Eren could no longer see his Boss as he had before. Levi was human with a painful past and dark stories of his own to tell. Yet, the man still continued to confuse the hell out of him despite learning so much about him. It was almost infuriating. 

Groaning, Eren decided that was enough complex thinking regarding Levi for one afternoon. He needed to start unpacking some of his things and the thought of it made his stomach grumble once more. Right. He still hadn't eaten yet. Damn it. 

Would Levi be all that upset with him he just helped himself to the man's fridge? Probably. 

A firm set of knocks startled the brunet as he was lost in deep thought over how he would feed himself. Who the fuck could be visiting Levi at almost 5 p.m. on a thursday? Surely, if it was a friend or even someone who knew him, they would know Levi most likely wasn't home from work yet. 

Eren shifted from foot to foot in a hallway that connected the kitchen and dining room as he contemplated what he should do. 

Would it be rude of him to just go and answer it himself? Should he just act like no one was home and wait until whoever was at the door left? He didn't know!

The decision was made for him, when the sound of jingling keys was heard from the other side of the door and Eren all but panicked when he heard the locks turning and the front door opening. 

"Yoo-hoo!" Hanji's cheerful voice sang from the foyer. Eren was immediately relaxing his tense body, right hand over his still pounding heart. "Eren, you here?" 

"Y-Yes, Miss Hanji! I'm in the kitchen!" 

Eren met up with the other brunette in Levi's very impressive kitchen and was almost salivating at the heavenly smell that followed Hanji in as she entered the apartment. 

"Well, hey there, cutie pie! Hungry?" 

"Yes!!" the brunet nearly moaned. "How did you know? I was just seriously considering raiding Levi's fridge but I figured it was best not to since he'd probably maim me." 

Hanji barked out a laugh that almost scared him, but, at this point, Eren was used to the brunette's loud habits. Instead of jumping in surprise, Eren smiled sheepishly. 

"When Levi returned to the office without you earlier, I had a hunch that he'd probably saddled you with all the grunt work of moving your stuff in alone. That, and when I asked him if he actually got you any lunch today he got angry with me, which in the language of Levi translates roughly to 'Fuck, no, I forgot.' So, here I am!" 

Eren took the offered plastic bag from Hanji as she held it out for him and was so overwhelmed with joy that he could almost cry. 

"Is this from that little italian place near the office?" he asked, taking out little aluminum bowls of hot pasta goodness and relishing in all the rich smells and the heat that seeped through his fingertips from holding the containers. 

"Yup! I figured you wouldn't mind a little Italian. You don't mind, right?" 

"Um, hell no! Thank you _so_ much, Miss Hanji. You're a life saver!" Eren was already tearing off the little plastic lid that had fogged over with condensation from the hot steam of his pasta and all put picked up the plastic fork that it came with to start shoveling Penne and marinara sauce into his mouth. "Holy shit, this is amazing." he moaned around a mouthful of food. 

Hanji was beaming widely at him, "Too bad Levi isn't here to witness this. I'm sure he would have given you a very nice reaction." 

"Wassat?" the brunet asked around a forkful of Penne. 

"Nothing!" the older woman laughed. "Just make sure not to spill any of that sauce on Levi's carpet. He'd murder you for sure." 

Eren's eyes widened and he had a bit of difficulty swallowing. Somehow, despite Hanji's joking tone of voice, he had a feeling there was some truth to what she said. 

"I'll eat it over the sink." he mumbled, quickly moving to hold his aluminum container over the sink so he could finish eating without worrying about dropping any sauce on the floor. 

"So, I hope you won't mind if I hang around for a bit while you unpack. I have something else I wanted to give you, but it can wait until you're finished eating." 

"Not at all," the brunet said once he'd finished swallowing another mouthful of pasta. "I would feel way more comfortable with someone else here instead of by myself. Levi's apartment is kind of..." he trailed off to try and find the word to describe it. 

"Cold and unwelcoming?" Hanji supplied with a sad sort of smile that surprised Eren a bit. 

"Um, well, yeah. Kind of. I mean, it's a beautiful apartment, but it doesn't feel lived in at all." He felt a little awkward saying this to Hanji who was obviously very close with Levi. Would she get upset with him for agreeing? 

"I know," she nodded, looking away from Eren and down the hall that lead to the front living room. "But believe it or not, Levi's the one who decorated this entire apartment himself. It might seem odd, considering he doesn't seem like the type to care about that sort of thing, but this was all him." 

"That's... odd." he murmured, at this point, Eren had eaten at least half of his container but he had a feeling this conversation was going to take a bit of a serious turn, so he covered what he had leftover and put it away in the plastic bag. "I actually expected his apartment to be a little darker." 

"More modern and sleek?" Hanji asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

"Yeah." 

"His old apartment was like that. He hated it. Said it was too cold and empty and he dreaded coming home to it every night. That's why when he moved into this apartment, he decorated it himself and did his best to make it as traditional possible. He even had the walls painted in warmer colors, but he still hates this apartment for the same reasons he hated the last apartment." 

Eren swallowed thickly, his throat suddenly feeling very dry. "Um, Levi wouldn't happen to have something to drink in his fridge, would he?" he asked a bit shyly. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry! He's got tons of sports drinks, water bottles, mineral waters. Help yourself!" 

"Are you sure? Levi seems like that type of person to keep track of how many things he has in his fridge." 

"Pfft," Hanji rolled her eyes. "Nah, he's a perfectionist, but he's not that bad." 

The brunet hesitated, eyeing Hanji a bit skeptically before he moved toward the fridge and opened it. Well, she hadn't been lying when she said Levi had a ton of sports drinks. There was probably every flavor of Gatorade and Vitamin Water you could ever find, along with at least half a case of water bottles in his fridge. In fact, most of the contents in Levi's fridge were liquids. Did he ever freaking eat anything?

Shrugging, Eren chose to play it safe and claimed a water bottle for himself. He still thought that Levi would probably be anal about someone drinking his sports drinks. 

"So, how long as Levi been living in this apartment? It's nicely decorated, but it feels like it hasn't been lived in at all." 

"You would think that, right?" Hanji sighed. "But, he's been living in this apartment for about four years. Erwin and I helped him pick it out." 

"Four years?" Eren coughed, choking on some of his water. "That long?" 

"Yup!" nodded Hanji. "If you're done eating, let's move out of the kitchen." 

The brunet followed her out of the kitchen and down the hall until they were back in Levi's living room. Eren spotted his suitcase that he'd left by the front door and the box on the floor of the foyer and he figured he may as well start with unpacking his DVD's and shelving them. 

While Hanji got comfortable on the sectional, Eren noticed a second more beat up box that was just slightly smaller than the box with all his movies and books. He eyed it curiously while carrying in his own box, where he deposited it on the floor near the entertainment center that had Levi's impressive 50" TV. 

"I hope you don't mind if I don't help out with the unpacking," Hanji said, doing a rather poor job at looking and sounding apologetic. "My pooh bear doesn't want me doing any kind of lifting. Being preggers and all." 

Eren chuckled as Hanji rubbed at her nonexistent baby bump, but it's not like he had intended to make Hanji help him in the first place, so he wasn't upset at all. 

"That's fine," he said with an easy smile. "I would feel horrible asking a pregnant woman to help me unpack anyway." 

"Too true!" was Hanji's cheerful agreement. "But, I'm actually here to talk to you and give you something pretty important." 

At Hanji's surprisingly serious tone, Eren stopped unpacking his box of movies and turned in his spot to face the brunette. He'd knelt down on the carpet at some point so he could tear open the packing tape stretched across the flaps of the box, but not he was just sitting with his legs crossed while Hanji looked down at him from her spot on Levi's couch. 

"Does it have something to do with that box on the coffee table?" Eren asked, eyes flickering briefly toward the old box that had definitely seen better days. 

Hanji leaned forward, her hands reaching out toward the box so she could turned it around and push it slightly toward the sitting brunet on the floor. Eren leaned forward a bit as well, reaching out to take the box that was surprisingly a lot heavier than he was expecting it to be. 

As he set it on the carpet in front of him, Eren noticed the almost familiar handwriting scrawled across one side of it in black sharpie that had slightly faded but was definitely still readable. It was so obviously Levi's handwriting, if not a little messy and exaggerated.

>   
>  **BAD MEMORIES**  
>  **(Do not open)**  
> 

Reading the words on the side of the box, Eren's eyes immediately went wide, his head shooting up to look at Hanji who was smiling sadly at him.

"What is this?" he asked quietly. "Why are you giving it to me?" 

"Because," Hanji said, matching his quiet tone of voice. Eren had never heard her speak so softly before; It unsettled him greatly and it just didn't suit Hanji's usually cheery disposition. "I know that Levi told you about certain parts of his past, but there are still bigger parts of it he never told you about, and he probably never will. At least, not willingly." 

"Miss Hanji-- I can't take this, it's not right--" 

"Eren, please." Hanji interrupted him. "I wouldn't be giving this to you if it weren't okay. This box is full of Levi's memories and he threw it out, but I couldn't bear to let him so I asked him if I could keep them. So, technically, that box is mine, but I'm giving it to you. There are things inside that box you need to see and hear in order to understand why Levi is the way he is. I know you're curious." 

Eren was quiet for a long moment, staring at the box of temptation in front of him just waiting to be opened. He lifted his hand and hesitantly reached for the peeling duct tape across the top flaps, but Hanji's voice stopped him. 

"I only ask that you wait to open it until I'm either gone or until you're home. There's a lot of things I need to explain to you first, so, can you do that for me?" 

Teal eyes trailed up to meet big, intense brown eyes and Eren swallowed thickly. Then, he nodded his head and settled both hands in his lap. Whatever Hanji had to say, must be pretty important. Eren had never seen her look so sad before. 

"Okay," he nearly whispered. "Okay, I promise." 

"Good," the older woman smiled, settling back into her spot and taking a moment to breath slowly and collect her thoughts before she began. Eren wasn't sure what to expect. "He told you about how he was an orphan, right?" The brunet nodded and Hanji nodded back. "Then I'm pretty positive he told you about... Isabel and Farlan, right?" Again, all Eren could do was nod. "What exactly did he tell you about them, Eren?" 

He had to take a moment to think about that, because that night as a whole was still a bit blurry, but Eren could almost clearly recall almost everything about that conversation with Levi. He remembered seeing the absolute guilt written all over Levi's face and the defeated way he sat on the edge of that bed, shirtless, slouched forward with his head practically hanging between his parted legs. 

"Well," he swallowed. "He told me how he met Farlan and became friends with him and how they watched each other's backs. Then, he told me about how they saved Isabel from some bullies. He mentioned the three of them being inseparable, and then he said they were in an accident that was his fault and they died because of it. That's about all I know." 

Hanji had been deathly silent as she listened to him recount Levi's words to him that night in the quiet of his old bedroom. Eren noticed the slight crease between her furrowed brows, like she was concentrating really hard on something. 

"Good," she croaked, before clearing her throat a trying for a big smile that didn't quite reach her eyes at all. "Good, he told you more than I expected him to. That makes telling the rest of this story easier on me." 

"Miss Hanji," Eren asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "I feel like I should be hearing this from Levi himself, shouldn't I?" 

"You will," Hanji said. "In his own way, you'll hear everything about this from Levi. Well, to be more precise, you'll be hearing it from a very angst-filled twenty-year-old Levi. The Levi you know now would never tell you anything-- not unless you tortured him. He's determined to bottle this all up and keep it to himself, which is dangerous." 

"But... I just feel like I'm invading his privacy like this." Eren shifted uncomfortably in his spot on the floor, his hands fidgeting in his lap. "None of this is my business and I'm sure Levi would be pissed if he knew you were telling me any of this." 

"Eren," Hanji said, sounding very stern which startled the brunet. He'd never heard Hanji talk to anyone in this tone before. "This is why you need to hear this. You need to stop thinking of Levi as your Boss and start thinking of him as the humanly flawed man that he is. Otherwise, you'll only end up hurting him in the process of this fake-engagement and I won't ever forgive you if you do." 

At the fiercely protective look in Hanji's eyes and the ice in her voice, Eren furiously began to shake his head from side to side. 

"N-No! I would do want to do that to him! I want to..." he trailed off, realization suddenly hitting him now that the words were almost out of his mouth. "... I want to help him, Miss Hanji." 

Silence was his answer, but Eren couldn't really be bothered with the lack of a verbal response. He was much too busy with his own buzzing thoughts as he replayed those words in his head over and over again like a broken record. 

_'I want to help him.'_

_'I want to help him.'_

_'I want to help him...'_

"Isabel and Farlan weren't just his friends." Hanji's voice startled Eren out of his own swirling thoughts. The brunet blinked and met her stare as he focused on her voice and what she was saying. "They were the first real family he ever had. A younger brother and baby sister. Two things Levi could never have. Yet, he'd found them in probably the most hopeless place." 

Eren could see the tears starting to gloss over in Hanji's warm brown eyes, but she quickly blinked them away and marched forward. 

"Like you, I never got to meet Isabel or Farlan personally. By the time I met Levi, they'd already been gone awhile. But, over the years, I've learned a lot about them and what they really meant to Levi. They were his family and he protected them first above all else. But, being three orphans in the system made it hard for the them all to stay together all of the time." Hanji cleared her throat and shifted in her spot on the couch. 

"Sometimes, one or two of them would be taken to the home of a Foster family, and Isabel and Farlan being younger than Levi, usually meant that Levi was the one left behind more often times than not. I'm sure he's expressed this to you at least once, but there aren't a lot of people who are very keen on adopting older kids. They mostly want babies and small children." 

Feeling a painful lump forming in his throat, Eren nodded. 

"He mentioned something like that." Was his quiet agreement. 

"Well, that's what happened. Isabel and Farlan were picked up by a Foster Family and sent to live with them in the next state over. Levi couldn't go with them, so, he stayed behind. Levi explained that at that time, he figured Isabel and Farlan would have been better off with the Foster Family, at least for a little while. If they were in a Foster Home, they could attend school like normal kids their age and Levi wanted that for them. So, he didn't make a fuss about it when they were picked up and taken to their new foster home and he had to stay behind. But, of course, life is cruel in unexpected ways." 

That lump in his throat grew more painful the longer Eren listened, his heart slowly growing cold as he noticed the one tear Hanji allowed to roll down her cheek before she was furiously wiping it away and sniffling. 

"What happened?" Eren whispered. He couldn't trust his voice to go any louder without breaking at this point. 

Hanji hesitated, seeming to need to take a moment to collect herself before she even attempted to continue. 

"... A few days after Isabel and Farlan left to go live with their new Foster Family, they both decided to run away and reunite with Levi. He said it was something the two had done on several occasions in the past, so, it wasn't all that surprising. Only, this time, their escape plan didn't go the way it normally did." The brunet watched as Hanji paused to sigh, her arms coming up to hug herself as she pushed forward with her story. 

"Farlan and Isabel stole their Foster Parent's car and tried to drive it back to the Children's home where Levi stayed behind. But, Farlan was only fourteen and Isabel was only twelve. Neither of them knew how to drive a car, but that had never stopped them in the past. It was night time and it had been snowing heavily. Farlan apparently lost control of the wheel when they hit a patch of black ice on a bridge and the car... the car hydroplaned down a cliff side." 

He hadn't meant to, but Eren heard himself give a little stuttered gasp before he clenched his jaw and swallowed past that painful lump that just kept growing and growing in his throat with no small amount of effort. 

"Farlan died on impact, so there was nothing that could be done for him once the paramedics and the police came. But, Isabel was alive, though she was critical. Levi had heard about the accident on the local news and recognized Isabel being taken into an ambulance and he headed straight for the hospital she was at at 3 a.m. in a snow storm on foot." 

The brunette had to pause once more to wipe away the tears that were now starting to freely flow from her eyes. Eren supposed if Hanji weren't pregnant, she'd probably be in much better control of her emotions, but in a way, seeing her mourn for Levi's loss comforted him. Eren took a moment to blink away the hot tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes as well. 

"Levi said he was turned him away each time he tried to see Isabel. He wasn't a blood relative nor was he next of kin, so he wasn't allowed to see her at all. That didn't stop him from trying anyway. He fought his way past all the security and nurses until he managed to see Isabel, but she was so badly injured from the crash that she was barely even alive. Levi didn't give me the details about what happened after that, but Isabel died shortly afterwards. He never said it out loud, but I could tell, he was absolutely devastated by her death... I could see it written all over his face and in his eyes." 

"In one single night, he'd lost his entire family. After a childhood spent alone fending for himself, he'd finally found people he cared about and who cared about him and they were just... gone. After that, Levi sort of gave up on trying. Farlan and Isabel's deaths really impacted him and he blamed himself for it. If he had just gone after them when they'd left, if he had told them the reason why he stayed behind, maybe they wouldn't have felt the need to run away just to be with him and they wouldn't have died. That's the blame he put on himself to this day." 

"But it wasn't his fault!" Eren growled quietly in frustration. "It was an accident, damn it! There was no way he could have prevented something like that from happening!" 

The anger that Eren felt well up inside of him was overwhelming and he wasn't even entirely sure who he was even angry at. He just felt so full of anguish and sorrow over the unfair hand that Life dealt Levi who had already suffered enough. 

"He doesn't see it that way, Eren. Levi still insists on blaming himself for their deaths and he's never forgiven himself, even now. So, you see," Eren heard movement and he looked up just in time to see Hanji moving from the sofa. Then, she was dropping down to kneel in front of him with her hands placed firmly on his shoulders. "This is why I said you needed to hear this. Because you need to understand how Levi sees himself. If you want to help him, you need to understand him first, okay?" 

"But... Miss Hanji--" Eren hiccuped, a sob nearly escaping him as he balled up his hands tightly.

"I know, Eren." she said softly, doing her best to sooth him by stroking little circles into his shoulders. "But this is why I gave you the box. Despite what Levi wrote on it, not all the memories in here are bad. Some of them, in my opinion are very good memories. Levi just tends to see the bad more than the good." 

"I'm going to help him, Miss Hanji." Eren said, wiping the tears from his wet lashes and staring up into her big brown eyes with a determined stare. "I won't let him punish himself anymore. Levi needs to be happy too." 

At his reassuring words, Hanji finally broke out into a wide smile and she was suddenly pulling him into a smothering hug that startled the brunet and threw him a bit off balance. 

"I'm so happy to hear you say that, Eren!" Hanji practically squealed. "I knew I could count on you!" 

Then, just as quickly as she had hugged him, Hanji had let him go and she was standing up and gathering up her things. Eren was still a bit shocked and disoriented from the sudden whirlwind that was Hanji Zoe Smith, but eventually, he shook himself and was standing to his full height. 

"Y-You're leaving?" he asked, watching as Hanji grabbed her purse and threw on the tan pea coat she must have worn into work that morning. 

"Yep! I've said everything I needed to say and I delivered all my packages to you, so, I'm gone! Besides, if Levi finds out I was here, he'll have a fit. Technically, I've been banned from his apartment, but, what he doesn't know won't hurt him!" she laughed wickedly. "I won't tell if you wont!" 

At her suggestive wink, Eren could only laugh nervously before he was showing Hanji out the door. As soon as his superior was gone, Eren slumped against the front door and sighed heavily. He suddenly felt so tired and drained; he had absolutely no desire to unpack anything now. 

Although... the box that Hanji left him was still sitting unopened on the floor and it was just begging him to open it. Eren was a victim of his curiosity, he would be the first to admit it, always. He wanted to know what was inside that box, but at the same time, he still felt a sense of wrongness about this. 

He took a few moments to just slump against the door and stare at the tempting box while gnawing on his lower lip. If he had a coin, he'd flip it and let luck decide for him, but since he didn't, he would just have to figure it out himself. 

Eventually, once he'd nearly chewed his lower lip raw, Eren finally decided to just get it over with and rip it off like a band-aid. The quicker he opened it and saw what was inside the box, the sooner he'd be rid of this nagging curiosity that plagued him. 

Taking a deep, calming breath, Eren bent down and picked up the box before carrying it over to the coffee table. Once set there, he took a seat on the edge of the sectional and glanced down at his wrist watch. It was only 4:45 p.m. Work wasn't over for another hour, and even then, Levi usually stayed a little later than usual anyway, so there was a good chance his boss wouldn't be home for awhile still. 

Eren had time. 

With slightly trembling and hesitant fingers, Eren slowly peeled the already peeling tape off the top of the beaten and slightly flimsy box with great care. He didn't want to risk ripping the flaps or any other part of the box. 

Each second that ticked by felt like an hour to him as he slowly watched the old silver duct tape pull apart from the faded brown cardboard, all the while, he could hear his heart thundering in his ears. When the last of the tape fell to the table, Eren swallowed dryly and began opening the flaps one at a time. 

The first items he saw upon opening up the box were several dozens of pictures. Polaroid pictures to be exact. They were stacked up haphazardly into two separate piles and tied together with rubber bands so that they wouldn't scatter. 

He took note of the small stack of cassette tapes labeled in that familiar handwriting. Some were labeled with years, others read what Eren assumed were song titles or lyrics. Then, there were the four VHS tapes on the bottom of the box, all labeled with years and dates and what he guessed were locations. He snorted when he caught sight of one that said "Erwin's Garage" and "Erwin's dad yelling at us." 

As much as Eren was dying to know what was on the tapes, he highly doubted Levi had a cassette player or even a VCR to play them, but Eren recalled having an old VCR somewhere in his closet at home; he'd just have to wait until then to watch them, unfortunately. 

He settled for going through the [pictures](https://www.pinterest.com/moongirlyuki/mm-levi/) for now, since it was the only thing he could look at without needing some kind of device from the 90's to see. He picked up the first stack of Polaroids and noted that some of them were a more crumbled or faded on the edges than other, but for the most part they were still in pretty good condition. 

A smile was immediately appearing on his face as he quickly noticed the first picture was a very young and different looking Levi sitting on a couch with his chin cradled in his hand propped up on an elbow. He was very clearly falling asleep and Eren also recognized the familiar tattoos on his arms that peeked out from the short sleeves of the white t-shirt he wore. 

It was an odd feeling he got as he stared at this picture of his boss, which was probably the youngest he'd ever seen Levi ever. Hanji had mentioned something about Levi's angst-filled twenty-year-old self and here was the evidence in Eren's hand. 

He flipped through the next few pictures, which were of various things like pale hands with their slender fingers wrapped in bandages, or a pair of scuffed Doc Martens and torn jeans. It was easy to tell most of these pictures were either of Levi or taken by Levi himself. 

What gave that away was the few stray photos Eren found of a very young looking Hanji in some rather interesting positions, or the rare snapshot of a youthful looking Erwin Smith making out with his now wife. It was all so wild and surreal. Eren felt like he was looking through someone else's memories and not those of a very young and reckless Levi Ackerman. 

The pictures of red solo cups and empty beer bottles, lighters and glass jiggers filled with who knows what, or even the pictures of Levi with a cigarette in his mouth or held gingerly between slim fingers. These were things Eren never even considered a possibility when he thought of his stern, no-nonsense Boss from work. 

But wasn't this the reason why Hanji gave him the box in the first place? So he could stop associating Levi with the image he's made of him in his head, which essentially, was the stern, no-nonsense boss he just described?

Looking at these polaroids, however, and seeing Levi kneeling in a bathtub shirtless and very clearly drunk while chugging a beer, or seeing Levi half dangling out an open window or wearing a baggy sweatshirt that clearly wasn't his with hickies and bruises marring his then slender neck. 

It was all such a huge 180 from the Levi Ackerman Eren knew now in the present, but it also slightly thrilled him because that meant that somewhere underneath all that stiff professionalism and cool level-headed-ness, there was this adventurous, reckless teenager who used to break the rules and trespass and do it all while showing the world his middle fingers and just not giving a fuck. 

The pictures of what were clearly Levi wrapped in strong arms, of Levi sitting in someone's lap, of Levi being led somewhere unknown by the hand, of Levi being loved by someone else in a different time, it made Eren's own heart ache but he shoved those feelings aside. However reckless Levi was as a teenager, Eren knew one thing; Levi Ackerman had been more alive than he'd ever seen him before and that's what Eren craved to see in him now. 

He wanted to see Levi just let go of all his reservations and get shit-faced, climb on top of a table and sing his heart out, laugh and smile until his face ached, because that was what life was about and Levi was denying himself these things as a form of punishment for a sin he thinks he committed. 

It hurt-- it hurt and it made him smile at the same time, because these pictures helped him see a different side of Levi he never would have known existed if Hanji hadn't given him this box. He would have forever stayed in ignorance of the pain Levi was still suffering from after all these years and been none the wiser. 

But he had promised Hanji he would help Levi, and while he hadn't the first clue of how he would go about doing that, Eren was determined to keep that promise. Even if this engagement thing was just a farce, Eren still wanted to at least be friends with his Boss at the end of all of this. There was no way they could ever go back to just being strangers who worked together after this; they'd both learned too much about the other by now that they were at the point of no return. 

If nothing else, Eren was okay with being a friend to Levi, if only just to help him move on and be happy. Maybe they'd look back on this whole thing years from now and they'd have a good laugh about it, but he hoped if and when that happened, Levi would be in a much better place because he deserved that much, at least. 

He deserved to be happy, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to take a moment to talk about something terrible that happened here in America a couple of days ago, because it's a serious tragedy and I'm just so angry and upset about it still. 
> 
> For my non-american readers, in case you weren't aware of it, there was a terrible mass shooting that happened inside of a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida and 50 people were killed while 53 more were injured. It's been recognized as the WORST mass shooting in the history of the United States, but it's still so upsetting because of the fact that American media is trying to downplay the fact that it was an act of hate against gay people.
> 
> It truly hurts me and breaks my heart and my thoughts are with the victim's families who lost a loved one in that shooting just because they wanted to go out and have a nice time and be who they are, but instead they were needlessly massacred in a place that should have been safe. Whether you're religious or not, no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, PLEASE, keep these families and these victims in your thoughts/prayers. Let's do our best to focus on the brave survivors and innocent victims who died and remember THEM, instead of focusing on the piece of human trash who was responsible for this tragedy and who's name I will not mention because it's irrelevant. 
> 
> In this time of heartache, we all need to stay strong and support each other as best we can. Be proud of who you are, don't let this incident scare you away from loving who you want to love and never feel ashamed or let someone else make you feel ashamed for being born the way you are. Stay strong my lovelies! I love you all and thank you so much for supporting me and my writing! I hope I can return the favor even just a little bit with my works! WE WILL SURVIVE THIS ATROCITY AND COME OUT STRONGER!!


	12. Life's Too Short to Even Care At All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for the biggest emotional roller coaster of a chapter yet! So many things happening!!!
> 
> I listened to Young the Giant A LOT while writing the first half of this chapter.
> 
>  **WARNING!!**** There are mentions of suicide towards the very end of this chapter. Just a heads up, for anyone who's uncomfortable with that. In fact, the entire last part of this chapter is pretty heavy in the feels department.

Friday afternoon, Levi had used his lunch break to make a trip to the store in order to by Eren his new toothbrush, a bathrobe and a pair of slippers because they needed to make this fucking fake-living together thing look authentic in every form of the word. 

Levi hadn't even bothered asking Eren what colors he preferred when it came to buying a bathrobe. He'd simply chosen a simple dark green robe, white slippers and a green and blue toothbrush. It's not like it really mattered what colors the things he picked out were, it wasn't like Eren was actually going to be using any of it. It was all for show, anyway. 

He'd paid for his purchase and walked back to his apartment, rather than take a cab. New York City cabs were definitely not Levi's favorite form of transportation, nor was the subway, but he would take the subway if he absolutely had to. Cabs were a different story. He lived in Manhattan, which wasn't all that big contrary to popular belief. He mostly walked wherever he needed to go or took a car service-- More expensive than cab service, sure, but at least a little cleaner. 

Upon entering his apartment, he heard Eren fussing with something in the living room. It was such an odd thing for him to hear as soon as he got home. Normally, he was used to the absolute dead silence that greeted him. Hearing someone moving around in his living room as he toed his shoes off in the foyer was... strange. 

"Levi, is that you?" Eren called from the front room. 

"Obviously," he grunted as he walked into the room to find Eren standing in front of his television screen. "What the hell are you struggling so hard with?" 

"I wanted to watch Sherlock while I was unpacking the rest of my stuff but I can't figure out your dumb remote!" 

"Wow," came Levi's flat reply as he walked over and plucked the device from his Assistant's hand. "It's not rocket science, Jaeger." 

"Shut up." the brunet mumbled. 

Levi set up the DVD for Eren and then handed the remote back before rolling his eyes at the brunet and walking away. 

"I brought the shit you'll need to put in my bathroom. I'm going to go put it away so you don't hurt yourself trying to find my bathroom." 

"Shut up!" Eren called after him and Levi allowed himself to smile fondly and shake his head once he was alone in the hallway. Such a brat.

Levi opened the new toothbrush and dropped it into the cup holder that held his own lone toothbrush. Once again, he had to take a moment to stop and just realize how _weird_ that was. Then, he tore the tags off the bathrobe and hung it up on the hook next to the shower, right next to his own dark blue bathrobe. _Weird_.

He did the same with the slippers and lined them up neatly next to his own on the floor where the small shower mat was. White slippers next to a pair of black slippers. Once again, he thought to himself, _Weird_.

Then, he wasn't exactly sure what possessed him to yank the shower curtain open, but he did, and then he noticed the two obviously used bottles lined up with his own in the shower. He read the labels of the two new foreign bottles and he snorted loudly when he noticed that Eren's shampoo was Strawberries and Cream scented. His body wash on the other hand was surprisingly just a bottle of regular Dove's Men. At least he knew that Eren's skin must be baby soft if he used Dove. 

"What are you laughing at?" Eren's voice said from the doorway of the bathroom. 

Pulling the shower curtain closed, Levi glanced back at his Assistant over his shoulder and then shrugged. 

"I just thought it was funny that you use a shampoo that smells like Strawberries and Cream." 

He turned around and walked out of the bathroom just in time to see his Assistant's slightly embarrassed face and flushed cheeks. Well, all this shit was definitely weird, but it was totally worth teasing Eren and getting him to blush like that. That could easily become Levi's favorite pass time from now on. 

"So, what? I like the way it leaves my hair." he argued halfheartedly, doing his best to hide the fact that he was a little insecure about Levi's teasing. 

"Calm down, Jaeger. I don't care if you like your hair to smell like flowers and glitter or whatever. I just care that you wash your hair at all." 

"Ew, of course I wash my hair. Who wouldn't wash their hair?" 

"You'd be surprised." Levi muttered. He walked back into the living room where his TV was currently showing the root menu for the Sherlock DVD Eren had put in earlier. "You're seriously going to start watching this while you unpack?" he asked, shooting an incredulous look back at his Assistant who followed him back into the living room like an over sized puppy. 

"Um, yeah?" he answered with a sheepish grin. "Why don't you watch it with me?" Levi opened his mouth to decline that offer, but Eren continued. "Just the first half of the first episode! Please? Give it a chance! I think you'll really like it." 

Levi sighed, grey eyes looking over the box of movies and books and other miscellaneous things Eren brought from his apartment. Then, he glanced down at his watch and noticed he still had half an hour left before his lunch break was over. He'd given Eren half the day off so he could finish setting up Levi's apartment for tomorrow night's dinner party but he still had to be back at work to finish the rest of his shift. 

"I only have thirty minutes before I have to go back." he murmured. "I was going to help unpack your shit." 

"That's perfect!" Eren smiled. "We can watch it while unpacking my stuff! It's not like I have a lot. It's mostly the movies that need to be shelved and some picture frames I brought over." 

Levi inhaled deeply through his nose before he sighed, "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with." 

The brunet cheered to himself silently before he was moving to snatch up Levi's confusing remote to start playing the first episode. Meanwhile, Levi moved to the box sitting on top of his coffee table that held all of Eren's movies. He reached in and grabbed the LOTR trilogy before he was turning around to stand in front of his media shelf. 

"How many episodes are there?" he asked, just to make conversation. He wasn't exactly the best at small talk, so he hoped Eren would take the reigns. 

"Of Sherlock?" 

"Duh." 

"Well, there's only three episodes to each season." 

Levi had stopped reorganizing the shelf of movies so he could turn and look at Eren from over his shoulder. He cocked one thin brow at his Assistant who smirked at him like he knew something Levi didn't. 

"What the fuck? How does that even work?" 

"Don't worry about it," the brunet shrugged casually. Then, he was moving to start helping Levi shelve his stuff. "Just watch the beginning and if you don't like it by the time you have to go back to the office, I'll never bring it up again. Promise." 

Rolling his eyes, Levi said nothing as he turned back to shelf the last DVD. He was mildly startled by the loud sounds of gunfire and screaming, which prompted him to flick his eyes back toward the tv screen. 

He stopped and watched as some blond guy violently woke up from a nightmare of being in the battlefield during war, then he watched as he sat on the edge of his bed in the dark and tried to calm himself down. PTSD. It was a term Levi was painfully familiar with and before long, he was drawn into what was happening on his screen. 

At some point, he just stopped helping Eren unpack altogether as he moved to sit on the edge of his couch while never tearing his eyes off the screen. He quickly learned that the blond guy with PTSD was none other than Dr. Watson. 

Levi was completely engrossed in the show by now, he was sure of it because he was glued to the screen and he was almost positive that his mouth was open, just a little bit. He was distantly aware of Eren moving around him and putting things away, but he couldn't be bothered to look away from the oh-so interesting show that just effortlessly reeled him in. 

"Holy fuck," he muttered to himself quietly, although not quietly enough since he heard Eren snicker behind him. 

"Not total crap, I assume?" his Assistant asked, no little amount of smugness in his tone.

"Shit, how long have I been watching this?" Levi looked down at his wrist watch and cursed again. "Fuck! I'm late. Why didn't you tell me something?" 

Eren had the decency to look just the slightest bit apologetic, "You just looked so into it." At Levi's unimpressed glare, the brunet tried to make a helpful suggestion. "Just take a half-day! It's not like Hanji or Erwin will care. They know we're busy trying to get your apartment ready for tomorrow." 

"It's not Hanji or Erwin I'm worried about, Eren. If Nile notices that you're not at work today and I took a half-day off, what is he going to think?" 

His Assistant shrugged, "Probably that we played hooky together so we could screw each other's brains out." 

Levi took a very deep and steadying breath at Eren's words because the mental image that supplied was not helping anyone, let alone him. 

"Hanji's starting to rub off on you. I can tell." he grumbled. 

"So what if Nile and everyone else thinks that? Wouldn't that kind of be a good thing?" Well, Levi couldn't really argue with that logic. "Come on, Levi. Just call in and tell Hanji you're taking a half-day. Then, you can stay here and finish watching Sherlock and I can finish unpacking. It's a win-win situation." 

Damn it. Levi never realized just how persuasive Eren could be in moments like this. Him and those damn big, doe eyes and that pout-y mouth. It was so hard for Levi to say no, especially since he _really_ wanted to finish watching this episode. 

"Tch, Damn it. Fine. You're such an evil little shit. First, you put on this damn show knowing I wouldn't be able to finish it and now you're pressuring me into skipping work." 

Eren smiled widely, "What can I say? I'm a man of some persuasion and lots of charm." 

"Not so much the charm part, but, keep telling yourself that." At Eren's offended huff, Levi smirked before he was pulling out his cell phone to dial Erwin. 

"Since it's noon and we haven't eaten anything yet, how about I order a pizza?" Eren suggested. 

"Whatever. Just no black olives." 

"Picky eater, are we?" Eren teased. 

Levi simply rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to fall for that trap. Not ten minutes later, after Levi had called Erwin and confirmed that he was taking the rest of the day off, the raven was curling up in a corner of his sectional and getting sucked into the rest of Sherlock while Eren continued to unpack and occasionally stop to watch and explain a few things.

\- X -

"Hey, you know what I just noticed?" Eren asked later that afternoon, a greasy slice of pizza in his hand.

"What?" Levi asked, curling his upper lip up in disgust at the grease staining Eren's hand before he was tossing some napkins at him. "Don't get anything on my floor or furniture or I promise you'll regret it." 

They'd long since finished watching the first episode of Sherlock and, while Eren was determined to persuade Levi into watching the rest of season 1, the raven had no intention to sit in front of his television all afternoon. They still had things to do in order to prepare for tomorrow's dinner party. 

"We don't have any pictures of us, together." 

"Well, of course we don't." 

"Yeah, I know that, obviously. But, won't Nile be suspicious if we don't have at least a couple of pictures of us together somewhere in the apartment? Considering, we're supposed to have been dating for six months and now we're engaged and house hunting, naturally, we should have some pictures as a couple together, right?" 

The brunet stuffed the last of his pizza slice into his mouth and licked some sauce off his thumb before he reached for the napkins and cleaned his fingers off as best he could. Levi, on the other hand, was a little speechless because Eren had a very good point. 

"Fuck." Was all he'd said. 

"Exactly." Eren wiped the last of his fingers clean and tossed the dirty napkins into the empty pizza box. Surprisingly, they'd managed to finish a large pizza together. Usually, Levi wasn't big on greasy foods or even fast food, but he'd built up quite the appetite while watching Sherlock, it seemed. "I have an idea, though. If you're willing to go along with me, that is." 

The older man cocked a skeptical brow, "That depends. What is it?" 

"Okay," the younger man perked up and turned in his spot sitting cross-legged on the floor so that he was facing Levi who was also sitting on the floor leaning back casually against his sectional. "We could go around the city and take pictures together. Then, we could have them printed out and put up a few here and there and BOOM!" he snapped his fingers dramatically and Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Problem solved." 

"Problem not solved, genius. We can't just take pictures the day before a dinner party and assume they'll work. They'll look too suspicious considering these pictures should look six months old, not 24 hours old." 

"We'll fix that!" Eren beamed. "We can go around taking pictures through out different intervals of the day and we'll make sure each setting is different. We can change outfits in each picture and just fake it till we make it. Those were your words to me in Germany, remember?" 

"So, what? We're gonna wear shorts and t-shirts outside and act like it's summer when it's actually the dead of winter?" the raven snorted. He'd meant that as a joke, but Eren suddenly seemed to brighten at what he said. 

"Yeah!"

"Eren, no. That's fucking stupid. We'll die from exposure." 

"Not if we take the pictures fast enough!" 

Levi sighed, "No to summer pictures. Just. No." 

"Fine." his Assistant deflated with a pout. "But, we will have to wear different outfits. Oh! We can take some photo boot pictures too!" 

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" the older man man frowned. 

"Yes, I love taking pictures." Eren said with a smile so bright and it made Levi's heart stutter in his chest. "You wouldn't happen to have a Digital camera?" 

The raven took a moment to just stare at his younger Assistant as he thought about this plan of his. Walking around the city all day with Eren and taking pictures? Not his ideal idea of a friday out. He wasn't particularly fond of taking pictures of himself. Levi always thought he looked angry and tired or just downright depressed. He wasn't the type to smile for pictures and he couldn't change the fact that he had perpetual resting bitch face. 

"Actually, I do." Levi finally answered after the silence stretched a little long. "But, I don't think I have to tell you that I'm not fond of having my pictures taken." 

"Yeah, I figured." Eren said a little too quietly, but there was an odd sort of look on his face. A sad smile, maybe? Levi couldn't really be sure. It was the first time he'd ever seen Eren give that sort of expression. It certainly wasn't pity. "But, that's okay. We'll figure something out and who knows," he paused, face turning smug as he regarded Levi. "I might be able to create a Christmas Miracle and get you to smile for a picture." 

At his confident words, Levi almost laughed. Instead, he allowed a soft snort of sorts before he was standing up from his spot on the sectional. 

"Sure. That'll be the day, Jaeger." 

"I'm serious!" Eren laughed. "It could happen!" 

"Whatever. Let's clean up this mess before the smell of artery-clogging pizza stinks up my apartment." 

"Too late, I think." 

"Ugh. I'm never letting you order pizza to my apartment ever again."

\- X -

As they'd planned, Eren and Levi had changed out of the outfits they'd worn that day and changed into a fresh set of more casual clothes.

Eren expressed his surprise at seeing Levi wearing a long sleeved crew-neck sweater, slate gray in color with black polka dots lining the top half of it near the neckline. He had the sleeves pushed up to expose his pale forearms and thrown the outfit together with a pair of black jeans and black Docs. 

"You... have Doc Martens?" the brunet had asked, staring at Levi's boots with a slow forming smile on his lips. 

Levi couldn't help but huff defensively. "You better not tell me I'm too old for Docs or some shit because Docs have been around since before you were born and I've been wearing them since you were probably in diapers." 

"No, no! I think they look really good, honest!" Came Eren's flustered response while he waved his hands in front of himself. "I wasn't going to say anything bad. I just didn't think you owned any."

Levi huffed again, less defensively this time, and crossed his arms over his chest. Grey eyes took a moment to appreciate Eren's own outfit, which was as simple and casual as Levi's. 

The brunet wore a soft cotton Henley shirt, faded blue in color, with a red and blue flannel thrown over. The flannel looked about a size or two too big but it didn't look messy or tacky at all. Then, Eren wore a pair of cuffed dark wash jeans that hugged his thighs in all the right places, finished off with his usual pair of brown (cognac) lace up boots.

They both carried a bag with changes of clothes in them; Levi's bag was one he took to the gym with him and was stuffed with three other sweaters and long sleeved shirts, while Eren's was a brown rucksack, the kind that had a pull string at the top to close it. 

"So, where's our first location?" Levi asked, making a move to pick up the protective case his Digital camera sat in before he stopped to consider something. 

"I don't know," the brunet drawled, eyes glinting with mischief that made Levi frown. "I was thinking... Times Square? Central Park?" 

"Tch, you'd better be joking, Eren. Those are the two worst tourist spots in the city." 

"I'm kidding," Eren laughed nervously. "You think I'd seriously choose Times Square?" 

"I have a hard time believing you wouldn't, just to spite me." the raven scoffed, though he was mostly half-joking. 

"Levi," Eren said, his tone suddenly somber, expression completely lacking any signs of it's previous mischief and humor. "I would never do that just to spite you." 

Well, that was a sobering moment for Levi. He sometimes forgot that his jokes always tended to come off wrong to most people and sometimes they took his self-deprecating jokes way too seriously. Of course, he should have expected this type of reaction. Everything he says always comes out wrong.

"I didn't--" he started to explain, before sighing heavily and deciding to just forego an explanation. He was so tired of doing that, anyway. "Never mind. Let's just go. We'll figure something out on the way."

\- X -

In the end, Levi had used one of his fancy car services to drive Eren and himself around town that afternoon. Eren had apparently gotten a brilliant idea after about ten minutes of driving around Manhattan aimlessly. Their driver seemed to appreciate having a destination for a change.

"Washington Mews would be a good place to start! Plus, it's nearby my place, so we can go back to my apartment to change clothes." 

They were currently driving down 10th and 44th on their way to The Highline, but Eren didn't know that. Levi had decided to keep that little part a secret. It had been years since Levi had gone to the Highline last, but he hoped it was still just as relaxing and scenic as he remembered it being. It would be the perfect spot for their first set of pictures to be taken. 

"Fine, we'll visit the Washington Mews. Where else?" the older man asked, keeping a keen eye out for a familiar tunnel. 

"Washington Square Park?" his Assistant suggested with a nervous smile. 

The raven gave his Assistant a very unimpressed glare. A park? Seriously? How cliche was that? 

"Well," Levi sighed, reconsidering his initial instinct to just tell Eren No to that suggestion. Maybe cliche pictures at a park wouldn't be a terrible idea. "I suppose I'd prefer Washington Square Park than Central Park." 

"So we can go?" Eren asked, sounding just the tiniest bit excited and giddy all of a sudden.

"I guess." was Levi's bland reply. "Pull over and park here." he told the driver once he'd recognized something familiar. 

"Where are we?" 

"The Highline." At Eren's confused expression, Levi sighed softly through his nose. "I figured you probably wouldn't know about it. Come on. Just walk with me."

The two men exited the warmth of the town car and Levi cursed under his breath when a particularly biting wind smacked him in the face upon stepping out of the backseat. He saw Eren visibly shiver and Levi briefly considered letting him wear his pea coat. 

He thought better of it, though. How exactly would he explain his sudden generosity? Handing someone his jacket to use just wasn't something Levi Ackerman did, and both he and Eren knew it. Lending Eren his jacket would definitely be too suspicious. 

But, still, despite the cold December air, Levi removed his pea coat and opened the car door to toss it into the back seat. The brunet had noticed his action and had shot him a confused stare along with one raised eyebrow. Levi simply shrugged. 

"Aren't we supposed to be taking Fall pictures right now? A heavy pea coat would look suspicious in a picture." he lied.

"Oh, yeah." Eren mumbled to himself quietly. "That makes sense, actually." 

Levi started walking toward the Highline without so much as a word and he heard Eren hurrying after him after a beat. Then, the sound of Eren falling into step with him was heard and Levi didn't even have to look to know that his Assistant was keeping up with him. Years of following after him around the office he supposed. 

"So, what exactly is the Highline?" Eren asked, once Levi had lead them through the tunnel where they were passed by a couple of joggers.

"It's this old above ground subway line. They turned it into a park, I think, a couple of years ago." 

"Subway line?" the brunet parroted excitedly. "That's not what I was expecting but it sounds cool." 

"It's not just 'cool'," Levi snorted. "It's probably one of the most scenic places in the city. There's really great views, which is why I figured it would be a good place for us to start." 

He heard Eren hum his acknowledgement, clearly letting what Levi had just said sink in. Explanations and small talk were ceased when they exited the tunnel and they both got their first look at the Highline. Levi was mildly impressed with all the changes they'd made since he'd been there last, but, he was a little annoyed with all the people that were already there. 

"Wow," he heard his Assistant breathe quietly. 

"Agreed. Too bad there's all these fucking bums lying around on the grass and hogging up all the benches." 

"Well, I guess there is quite a lot of people." Eren said with a small sigh. 

"No matter," Levi said as he walked forward. "The Highline is a big place. There's got to be somewhere more quiet." 

Once again, Eren fell into step with him effortlessly and the two men walked down the Highline in search of the perfect spot to take their pictures. 

"You know, I'm a little surprised." Eren had said at one point. They'd only been walking for about five minutes, Levi assumed. 

"About what?" he asked distractedly, grey eyes searching for any signs of a less crowded space.

"That you're taking this photo shoot thing so seriously." 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the raven grumbled. There were some children running toward them clearly not paying any attention to the people in front of them. "Shit." he cursed, when he tried to side step a little girl but she ended up running face first into the side of leg.

She stumbled back a couple of steps before she started rubbing at her nose. Levi swallowed nervously when he waited for the inevitable to happen. Surely, the little girl with her mousy brown hair pulled up into two high pigtails blinked up at him and she coward from him. 

"Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?" Eren suddenly jumped in, much to Levi's relief. He knelt down on one knee and gently swept some of the girls bangs out of her face as he checked her over for any injuries. "Did you hurt yourself anywhere?" 

The little girl shook her head slowly from side to side, her big brown eyes still occasionally eyeing Levi warily, who was standing behind Eren with his arms crossed over his chest. He silently watched as his Assistant tried to avoid a possible disaster here.

"That's good, but you should be more careful from now on, okay?" Levi watched as Eren flashed the girl a big lopsided grin and the child visibly relaxed, returning a very shy and tentative smile of her own while nodding her head. "Can you say sorry to the nice man behind me?" 

At this point, Eren looked back at Levi over his shoulder and gave him a very pointed look that Levi didn't even need to try to decipher the meaning behind. He knew his Assistant was basically telling him to stop looking so threatening, but that was easier said than done. When Levi stared back at him with no outward reaction, Eren only frowned at him before motioning with his eyes for Levi to crouch down to eye level with the girl. 

This was the exact kind of situation Levi was trying to avoid. He wasn't any good with children. They usually found him scary and cried at the sight of him and he never did know what to do with a crying child. He couldn't even comfort grown ass adults, why anyone thought he'd be any better comforting a small child was beyond his comprehension. 

Finally, when Eren's glare became too much for him to bare, Levi quietly sucked his teeth, took a moment to gather himself and hopefully attempt a much less threatening demeanor before he was moving to crouch down next to Eren, meeting the little girl's wide eyes with his own. He only hoped he had succeeded in softening his expression even just the tiniest bit. 

"See? He's not so scary, right?" Eren laughed, turning his attention back to the little girl who was still staring at Levi with a tiny bit of apprehension on her face. "If you tell Mr. Levi you're sorry and give him a big smile, I'll bet he'll buy you some ice cream." 

At the impish grin Eren flashed at him, Levi rolled his eyes. Of course, he would end up having to pay some kind of price for this service Eren did for him. Still, Ice cream in the middle of December?

"I'm sorry for bumping into you, Mr. Levi!" the little girl's tiny voice chirping caught Levi's attention and when he turned his gaze back to her, she was flashing him a big grin, missing front teeth and all. 

Well, shit. After that adorable display, - and yes, even Levi would admit it was adorable - how could he possibly deny the little girl her reward? The raven reached a hand out and patted the top of the little girl's head lightly. 

"That's alright, brat." The little girl burst into a fit of squeaky giggles at his acceptance of her apologies and Levi couldn't help but crack the tiniest of smiles himself. 

A gentle beep sounded from the right of him and Levi turned to see Eren with his cell phone out and no doubt recording the entire exchange, but Levi didn't even get the chance to tell him off when the little girl's parents came rushing up to the three of them looking scared and panicked. Levi didn't blame them.

"Elizabeth!" her mother sighed with relief before she was scooping her daughter up in her arms and hugging her tightly. "You shouldn't have run off like that! You had us both scared!" 

A tall man with the same mousy brown hair as Elizabeth's stroked the little girl's hair before he was turning to regard Eren and Levi who were both standing at their full height once more. 

"Thank you for finding out daughter. My wife and I lost track of her when I left to get her a jacket."

"That's alright," Eren said with an easy smile. "She bumped into us quite literally. We're just glad she didn't hurt herself." 

Levi disliked the way his heart palpitated each time Eren referred to them as 'us' and 'we'. It was a stupid thing for his heart to flutter over.

"We're so sorry. Thank you again for finding her. Please let us repay you somehow." the wife spoke up next, once she was finished hugging her daughter and showering her with kisses. 

"Actually," Levi said with an awkward clearing of his throat. "I believe I owe Elizabeth an ice cream." 

"It's true, mommy!" Elizabeth laughed while nodding her head vigorously. "Mr. Levi said he'd buy me an ice cream if I said sorry for bumping into him and gave him a B-I-I-I-I-G smile."

True to his word, Levi bought ice cream for Elizabeth, and somehow that turned into Eren convincing him to buy him an ice cream as well. Once they'd said their goodbyes to little Elizabeth and her parents, Levi and Eren finally found a quiet little spot to sit away from all the noise and people and Eren happily licked at his double scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. 

"Explain to me again how I got tricked into buying ice cream for both you and that brat?" 

Levi was sitting on one end of a bench while Eren was sitting somewhere toward the middle. There was at least a person's worth of space between them and Levi slightly shivered at another biting wind. 

"Because I saved you from an awkward situation that involved a scared child? It's only natural I get a reward for my hard work." the brunet shrugged. 

"How the hell can you eat Ice Cream in the middle of December? Who the hell even sells ice cream in the middle of December?" 

Levi heard Eren rummaging around in his gym bag but he promptly ignored him. Instead, he took the moment's silence to stare out over the view of the city. The sun was starting to peek out from the gray clouds momentarily, bathing everything in it's warmth, including a very cold Levi. 

Then, he both felt and heard scooting closer and closer to him until the brunet was pressed up against his left side. Levi stiffened at the contact but secretly relished in the added warmth that Eren's body brought with it. 

"What are you doing?" he asked, when he noticed Eren lifting up his digital camera.

"Taking pictures. That's what we came here for, right?" Levi frowned deeply at the camera lens and Eren barked out a laugh. "Stop that! We're supposed to be taking cute couple pictures. Here, wrap your arm around my shoulders." 

Eren took the initiative and grabbed Levi's wrist, pulling it up and across his wide shoulders until Levi's arm was resting there and the brunet was leaning in slightly while tilting his head toward Levi's. He held up his quickly melting ice cream cone and started making a face at the camera. Levi kept his face carefully blank, despite his heart hammering in his chest.

Eren took one snapshot, two snapshots and then he was stopping briefly when he couldn't decide what face to make into the camera next. The older man got a wicked idea when he noticed that Eren's ice cream was more or less forgotten in left hand. With a practiced ease, Levi slowly reached for it with the arm that was wrapped around Eren's shoulder, and when he got a hold of Eren's wrist, he quickly guided it so that there was a glob of ice cream on the tip of Eren's nose and dripping down his cupid's bow.

In his surprise, the brunet had snapped the picture and captured the moment where he laughed while Levi stared right at him. 

"Okay, this is a good picture." the brunet had pouted upon reviewing the last three pictures he'd taken on Levi's camera. "But, I don't appreciate the sneaky shit you did to pull it off." 

Levi shrugged and stood up from his spot on the bench to stretch. He immediately felt the loss of Eren's warmth but he forced himself to brace the nippy winds as the sun went back into hiding behind thick blankets of gray clouds.

\- X -

**  
_Eren's P.O.V._  
**

Eren got home rather late that night and he was exhausted. 

Levi had left his Digital camera with him, since Eren said he would have them printed out and framed by tomorrow but if he were being honest with himself, he had no energy to do it tonight.

Instead, Eren sat in a corner of his small, humble sectional sofa and flicked through the dozens of photos he and Levi had taken that day. After the Highline, they went to the Washington Mews and walked down it's cobblestone streets occasionally stopping to take pictures while standing in front of old buildings with their exposed red brick faces and it's wide black paneled windows. They'd changed at least four times, so that none of their pictures ever had either of them wearing the same outfit more than twice.

Eren had to stop on a specific set of photos however, which were the ones they'd taken in Washington Square Park. Like the Highline, it was extremely scenic and there were plenty of people crowding the place, but he and Levi had managed to get seats at the fountain. 

It was starting to darken at that point, and he and Levi were already starting to show their exhaustion. As Eren flicked through photo after photo of the two of them sitting at the fountain, the brunet stopped and beamed at the last photo he'd taken. 

Levi had been surprisingly conversation toward the end of the day, but Eren had chalked that up to him being tired and just not caring anymore. He'd made Eren laugh when he recounted a story of how he'd seen a homeless man taking a bathing in that very fountain they were sitting in front of, but Eren had told him a much better one. 

He then proceeded to tell Levi about the time he saw a homeless man punch a pigeon out of the air and the result of him telling Levi that story had been seeing Levi laugh for the first time ever and he'd caught it in a picture. 

It was probably his favorite picture by far, despite it's simplicity. They'd changed into their winter clothes, dressing in warm sweaters and cardigans with Eren putting his red and white wool pom-pom beanie on top of Levi's head. Levi had one of his arms wrapped around Eren's waist while the brunet had leaned into his side and tilted his head to one side so that it rested against Levi's temple, which had become a comfortable sort of position for them through out that day. 

Eren had taken the picture right after telling Levi his homeless man story and the resulting snapshot had been Levi leaning into him while slightly burying his nose into Eren's neck to try to hide his smile. It failed, obviously, and Eren had captured the unforgettable moment on camera and he was still mesmerized by the sight of Levi's stretched lips showing teeth. He was definitely going to print this one out, even if he didn't get a chance to put it up in Levi's apartment tomorrow. He'd keep it as a memento. 

Sighing, Eren put the digital camera away in it's protective case and set the case on top of his coffee table. As he leaned over to set it down, he noticed the box that Hanji had left him and Eren faltered. It had only been a day since he'd brought the box home with him, but Eren had yet to reopen it and pull out the tapes he was oh, so curious about.

He was tempted to play one of the VHS tapes. His VCR was shelved in his bedroom closet, but it wouldn't take long to hook it up to his tv. Gnawing on his lower lip, Eren weighed the pros and cons. It was rather late, teal eyes glanced up to the clock on his kitchen stove and he read it as 11:38 p.m.

On the other hand, Eren has been dying to know what was on those VHS and cassette tapes more than anything. No better time than the present, right? Well, that decision had been easy to make. He shot off from the couch and bolted into his bedroom to start digging for his old VCR. 

Twenty minutes later, found the brunet sitting on his couch, curled up with his knees to his chest as he waited for the tape to finish rewinding. Apparently it had been played before and hadn't been rewound until now. Eren wasn't sure what to do with that information. 

He waited with bated breath for the screen to light up from black, and when it did he was greeted with the sight of Hanji, Levi and what looked like Mike from the office minus the face scruff all standing (or sitting in Mike's case) with an instrument in hand in what Eren guessed was someone's garage. That explained the label on the tape that said "Erwin's Garage."

He marveled at the sight of a much younger Levi sitting on a high stool with a guitar in his hands, dressed in torn acid wash jeans and black canvas converse. He ran a hand through his black hair and pushed his bangs to the side, showing off that familiar undercut Eren was so used to seeing. 

Hanji was wearing something similar, torn blue jeans, converse, a band t-shirt that had the sleeves torn or cut off. It was odd seeing her without her glasses, though, Eren sort of chuckled at how little she's changed appearance-wise.

" _No Name's Band practice._" came Levi's youthful voice. 

Eren couldn't help but note the slight differences; his voice wasn't as low as it was now, but it was still smooth. He couldn't help but think it even sounded softer, as well.

  
"" _♪ "Breathe." that's what they're telling me_  
But I just can't calm down ♪  
_♪ Grieve. I know it's what I need  
but I just don't know how ♪_

"" _♪ All these voices get so loud but they still can't drown the sound_  
of me knowing this is all my fault...  
We're still too young, this is too much.  
But I still know that there must have been something that I could have done... ♪   


Eren couldn't help but hug his knees a little bit tighter as he watched this twenty-year-old version of Levi sing about what was unmistakably losing Isabel and Farlan. The loneliness and grief was written all over Levi's face when he sang each verse, and while the quality of the video wasn't the highest, even Eren could tell that Levi's eyes were so terribly haunted. It made him ache down to his very core, but he continued to watch with a heavy heart.

  
"" _♪ Scream. My words are failing me._  
When did we become so numb?   
_Please, don't tell me anything  
The past can't be undone. ♪_

" _♪ All these voices get so loud but they still can't drown the sound_  
_of the fact that everything has changed,_ "

"" _We're still too young, this is too much._  
_I was naive and out of touch,_  
_I was so sick of always needing saving. ♪_

"" _♪ I was so sure, but I fell short._  
_I thought I'd stand tall, and shake the ashes off,_  
_I told myself that I could be strong._  
_I was so sure... ♪_

"_♪ "Breathe", that's what they're telling me_  
_But I just don't know how... ♪_"

At some point, he'd felt a hot tear slide down his face and Eren sniffed before wiping it away. Now, he understood completely why Hanji had given him this box. Eren had needed to see this in order to know just how deep Levi's guilt ran.

The tape wasn't over just yet, despite the image going wobbly and then cutting out to static again. Eren left it a minute before it finally showed another image and it was of Levi sitting alone in a small apartment. It's walls were stark white and there was very little in it, except for a small coffee table and a love seat. The carpet was dark and shaggy and Levi only had one table lamp on; it was missing the shade.

" _Levi solo session. Acoustic guitar._" he heard young Levi say as he sat on the small love seat and started strumming a very slow tune with his fingers.

Eren took a moment to notice that Levi was shirtless and he could see each and every one of his tattoos that he grown to be familiar with now. It was odd, seeing the pale pink magnolias on what were then slender shoulders. Levi had certainly filled out quite a bit since then.

[(X)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq4ff6ZfN9g)

  
"" _♪ Doing the same thing everyday_  
_I'm so tired, I don't want it anymore_  
_I want to sleep_  
_A perfect way where you don't wake up but you don't die_  
_You just simply lie without drowning anymore ♪_

"" _♪ I don't want to be here_  
But I don't want to not be here  
Suicide; it won't happen  
but then neither will life without drowning anymore ♪   


Listening to Levi's soft voice, seeing the turmoil and sadness etched into his pale features and the low way he hung his head. It was such a heartbreaking sight that Eren couldn't choke down the sob that clawed it's way up his throat.

He had no idea it was this bad; and he had to wonder if Levi still felt this way at all? Was he still tired of living this life? Did he still not want to exist?It was a hard thing to imagine Levi thinking, considering the day they just spent together. 

For a moment or two, Eren had seen that darkness clear from Levi's eyes and he'd seen his playful side, his awkwardness when it came to children and he'd seen a genuine smile and heard his wonderful, low, breathy laugh just hours ago. 

It was such a far cry from the thin, lonely figure that sat in the dark and crooned such sad lullabies to empty shadows. And the songs continued and Eren watched, listened and mourned for a lost young man who didn't think he mattered anymore.

[(X)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIfnJgPzQx0)

  
" _♪ Adding up all the pain left in your brain  
It's just another black day feeling alone and full of decay ♪_ "

"" _♪ Friends don't exist_  
_Friends don't exist_  
_No one's going to give you a kiss_  
_Who cares if you exist?_  
_Friends don't exist... ♪_

"" _♪ When you're home alone  
You may as well be asleep for the week  
I'm so weak... ♪_

" _♪ but somehow I exist ♪_ "  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi watching Sherlock is my new favorite thing in the entire world and for those of you who haven't seen Sherlock or just didn't like it, I apologize for some references made that you might not understand. I just really love Sherlock and it's all my waifu's fault for getting me into it in the first place! 
> 
> Anyway, expect more Levi watching Sherlock. Also, next chapter is the Dinner party. I'M SO EXCITED.
> 
> P.S. for anyone curious, the first song Levi sings from this chapter is called I Was So Sure by Former Vandal. 
> 
> P.S.S. Expect more songs from Peacock Affect. They just fit young, angst-y Levi so well!


	13. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _"♪ Are we just gonna stay like this forever, floating... I'm serious, my heart is furious_   
>  _Cause' I'm so confused when we're together, feels like I'm choking these emotions_   
>  _I wish I could say what I'm feelin', I'm scared to let these words out ♪_
> 
> \- **We Won't by Phoebe Ryan & Jaymes Young**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited dinner party chapter is here and it's another massive chapter because I'm trash who doesn't know when to stop writing once I've got a good rhythm. 
> 
> Don't think this chapter needs any warnings, since it's mostly just domestic fluff and Hanji and Erwin making Levi's life miserable by embarrassing him and vice versa. I really love this chapter for reasons, mostly, Hanji and Erwin.

Saturday morning had Levi answering his front door for Eren who thought it would be a good idea to show up at 9 a.m.

Not that 9 a.m. was particularly early and it's not like Levi had been sleeping anyway. He'd gotten up at his usual time of 4 a.m. and had made himself a cup of tea. Gotten some work done on his laptop and then once 6 a.m. had rolled around, he decided to waste some time at the gym. 

He'd gotten back from the gym not thirty minutes ago and he was still wearing the clothes he'd worked out in. Levi's fringe was still a bit damp from sweat, considering he jogged all the way back to his apartment which was refreshing thanks to the cold morning air that bit at his face.

"You're early." Levi commented as he walked away from the foyer and entered his kitchen. He heard Eren follow after him. 

"I know I said I'd be here at 10 a.m. but I figured I'd drop by a little earlier in case I caught you before breakfast." 

Eren had an odd tone to his voice, one that Levi had a hard time pinning if he were being honest with himself. It wasn't a sad tone but it almost sounded like it. Somber and maybe with a hint of exhaustion. 

It wasn't until the brunet had finally wandered into the kitchen after him that Levi got his first good look at his Assistant and noticed the slight swelling under his eyes. Had Eren been crying?

"Jesus, Eren." Levi said, fighting the urge to step up to him and grab his face to better study the puffiness under his eyes. He looked like he hardly got any sleep last night. "You look like hell."

"Oh," came Eren's quiet voice. "Um, yeah, had a hard time sleeping is all. I'll be fine with some coffee and food in my stomach." 

He flashed Levi a wan smile and Levi couldn't fight his urges any longer. He walked up to Eren and grabbed him by the arm, guiding him into a seat at the bar in his kitchen. The brunet didn't really try to fight him, although he did try to stutter out a couple of weak protests. 

"Sit there and wait a minute. I'll make you breakfast." came Levi's firm orders.

"But--"

"Quietly." he bit out sharply. "Sit there quietly." 

Eren did as he was told and tightly shut his mouth. Satisfied, Levi nodded his head and started working on making Eren a simple but filling breakfast. Now, Levi would never claim to be a master chef, he was nothing close to that. Growing up with the kind of rough childhood he'd had, one never had the luxury of having someone teach you how to cook many things. Levi had mostly taught himself how to cook, through trial and error. 

Hanji, Erwin and Mike surely had some hilarious stories of him attempting to cook when he was younger and constantly setting off the fire alarms. Those were not pretty memories, but Levi had learned in the end and thankfully he could make a few select dishes in order to survive on his own. 

Levi got to work making one of those select dishes, which was really just a glorified omelette. Hanji had called it that when Levi had finally mastered the Omelette and had made it one morning for everyone after a hard night of partying that went too far resulting in a lot of regrets on Erwin's part.

He'd made quick work of making his Omelette for Eren who looked about ready to drop while sitting up. He kept closing his eyes while cradling his chin in his hand and Levi couldn't tell if he had actually fallen asleep or not. While his Omelette was cooking, Levi made Eren a cup of coffee. 

"Here," he said, sliding the mug across the counter top and startling a dozing Eren. "Drink this and try not to fall asleep in my kitchen." 

"Thanks," Eren had said with another tired smile as he cradled the cup in both hands and gently blew the steam that drifted up away. "Smells good." 

"It better," Levi snorted as he busied himself with flipping his Omelette. "It's French Roast." 

"You're such a snob," he heard Eren chuckle. "You can't even drink this stuff." 

"So?" the raven shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't like the smell of a nice strong cup of coffee."

A comfortable silence filled the kitchen once more as Levi finished cooking and transferred his finished product onto a plate while putting the dirty pan into the sink to be washed. 

He set the plate with the Omelette in front of Eren who was halfway done drinking his first cup of coffee, black, and he was looking much more alert now. 

"Wow," came Eren's stunned reaction to the fancy looking Omelette in front of him. "This looks... amazing. I didn't even know you could cook." 

"Yeah, well, don't ask me to cook anything more complicated. Chances are I'd only end up burning it." 

"Thanks, Levi." Eren picked up the fork that Levi had set next to him and was about to tuck into his meal before he hesitated, looked up in confusion at Levi and then set his fork down. "Aren't you going to eat too?" 

"No." 

Eren settled him with skeptical look, "Why not?" 

The older man shrugged casually, "I'm not hungry."

"Levi," the brunet warned. 

"I'm gonna go shower. Leave the dishes in the sink. I'll wash them when I'm done."

Before Eren could continue to chide him further, Levi left the kitchen and walked into the bathroom down the hall. Showering was a bit of a struggle, considering he was hyper aware of the fact that he wasn't alone in his apartment, but Eren was just a couple of rooms away. 

In a way, it didn't really bother him to know that Eren was currently invading _his_ space, which was his apartment in general, but he mostly chalked that up to the fact that over the past couple of weeks, he'd gotten to know Eren in the most unusual of ways, so at this point, it was hard being awkward around him. 

That thought scared him a bit, because if Levi was no longer awkward around him then that meant he was _comfortable_ with Eren, who at the end of the day was still his subordinate and Assistant. Levi had to constantly remind himself that this set up was only temporary. When this was all over, he and Eren would have to go back to how they were, no matter how much they knew about each other.

This couldn't become anything other than what it already was.

Once he'd dressed in fresh clothes and dried his hair a bit, Levi had re-entered the kitchen to find that Eren was loading the dishes that Levi had told him to leave in the sink into the dishwasher that Levi never used. 

"Tch, I thought I told you to just leave them there for me to wash." he grumbled. 

"Why, when you have a perfectly good dishwasher to do it for you?" Eren asked, big teal eyes staring at him in puzzled curiosity. 

"Because," Levi muttered. "I don't trust that fucking machine to wash the dishes to my standards." 

His Assistant gave a startled laugh that he tried to stifle but failed miserably. "You're serious, aren't you? Okay. Well, I'll take full responsibility if the dishes come out streaked or below your standards for cleanliness, hm?"

The older man took a moment to think about it before nodding his head. 

"Fine, but if it's even just the tiniest bit below my standards, I'm making you wash them by hand in scalding hot water." 

"Deal. Now, let's get ready to go to the Grocery store." 

"What?" Levi asked dumbly. 

Eren had already started to exit the kitchen but he stopped in the hallway and turned to look back at Levi over his shoulder. 

"We have to get stuff for the dinner party tonight, don't we?" 

"...Yeah." 

"So we obviously have to go to the grocery store." laughed Eren.

Well, when the brunet put it in that perspective, what was there for Levi to complain about exactly? He did need to go to the grocery to buy all the shit they'd need for tonight's dinner because apparently they were going to cook it themselves. Levi had considered catering because why would he give a fuck about giving Nile a home cooked meal? The short answer was: he didn't. 

"Fine," Levi sighed. "I'll get my coat."

\- X -

"Tell me again why I can't just call a catering service? It's Nile Dok coming for dinner. Not The Queen of England. I couldn't care less if he enjoys the food or not."

Levi was stuck on cart pushing duty while Eren walked slightly ahead, eyes glued to the screen of his cell phone as he browsed through several recipes.

"Because, even if you don't like him, he's still our boss and we should try and impress him. Besides, it's my first time planning a dinner party myself. I want it to be perfect." 

"It's my first dinner party too." Levi grumbled to himself quietly. Apparently not quietly enough since Eren looked at him from over his shoulder and smirked. 

"All the more reason for you to want this dinner party to go perfectly, too." 

They stopped in the freezer aisle and Eren looked around with his eyebrows pinched together in concentration. 

"Hmm, should we buy a pork loin to make a roast? Or should we go traditional and just buy chicken?" 

The older man rolled his eyes and leaned heavily against the cart he was forced to push around. Eren was making such a big deal out of this dinner party, and while, yes, Levi could understand Eren wanting to impress Nile to some extent, it was still hard for him to understand why they had to go out of their to make a home cooked meal and play the good hosts and entertain the bastard.

"Does lamb make it obvious that we're trying to impress him?" Eren asked, looking back at Levi sheepishly.

"Yes. Fuck yes, Lamb makes it obvious. Just go with the chicken. It's cheap and easier."

"Levi," the brunet sighed. "We're not trying to go for cheap and easy, here." 

"Why not? I refuse to pay anymore than forty bucks for this entire meals because impressing Nile is worth barely even that."

"... Fine. I guess we're making roast chicken." Shrugging, Eren walked off to get the chicken while Levi gave a frustrated groan before slowly and reluctantly following after him while pushing the cart. 

The older man felt like a teenager being forced to go grocery shopping with their parents. But, it was a bit hard to be so grumpy and bitter when he was grocery shopping with Eren. It was such a domestic thing to be doing with his Assistant, but, it filled Levi's chest with warmth and heated his cheeks when he thought about it too much. He'd never done this sort of thing with anyone before.

"Levi?" Eren's voice snapped him out of his swirling thoughts. 

Levi blinked and straightened up from his position hunched over the cart, "What?" 

"I asked you if you had any white balsamic vinegar at your apartment?" at the little smile on Eren's face, Levi felt his cheeks warm once more and he cleared his throat while looking away promptly. 

"Ahem, no, I don't think so." came his croaky response.

"Okay, then we'll need to get some of that. Also, we'll need leeks and frozen peas." The younger man was back to concentrating on his phone screen but he seemed to remember something. "Ah, do you want to split up and get those thing separately so we can finish the shopping faster?" 

"No," the raven answered a little too quickly. "I mean, we've got most of the shit we need already, right?" At Eren's nod, Levi continued. "Then, we'll just stay together. I need to get a few things myself anyway." 

Teal eyes studied him for a moment or two, searching for something; a lie perhaps? 

"Are you sure?" was Eren's skeptical question. "If we split up, we could finish up faster. I'm sure you didn't plan to spend this much time at the grocery store."

"I said it's fine, Eren." Levi straightened up and started pushing his cart past the brunet as they exited the fifth aisle. "Let's go get the vinegar." 

"Alright," the brunet shrugged, following after Levi soon after. "After we get the vinegar, we need to get those leeks. The recipe I found says we need about three large ones." 

"Fine."

\- X -

"Well, the pictures didn't all turn out like complete disasters." 

After they'd gotten back from the grocery store, Levi had showed Eren where he could put everything and once that was done, they'd put on the second episode of Sherlock and got to work putting up the framed pictures Eren had brought over from yesterday's impromptu photo shoot. 

"I told you they weren't that bad. You need to lighten up, Levi. You're more photogenic than you think." 

Levi simply snorted at that but said nothing as he put a picture of him and Eren at the Highline up on his mantel. It was the one where he had gotten ice cream on Eren's nose and Levi would admit, it was probably his favorite one. Eren's surprised laughter with his face scrunched up and all his teeth showing with how wide his smile was, and Levi didn't totally hate the way he came out in it either. His face was mostly blank, except for the tiny little curl of his lip in one corner as he watched Eren laugh in the picture. 

"Although, I think this one is my personal favorite." Eren said, prompting Levi to look away from the photo he was holding to look over at his Assistant who was walking over to him with another frame in his hands. "I told you I would make you smile for a picture yesterday, didn't I?" 

Grey eyes took in the photo of Levi and Eren at Washington Square park wearing their winter clothes. Eren had given him his beanie to wear because his ears had gotten cold; Levi had always been sensitive to the cold but he had tried to power through it. Eren had noticed, because for some reason, he just always seemed to notice these things when it came to Levi and had put his warm beanie over Levi's head. 

Levi remembered just how exhausted they both were by the end of yesterday and he had laughed when Eren had recounted a story of a homeless man punching a pigeon in mid-air. The story had caught Levi off guard, so naturally he'd laughed and done his best to hide it but apparently failed as proof in this picture Eren held out for him to study. 

It was a very intimate looking picture with Eren smiling widely while resting his head against Levi's temple, while the older man himself was turned into Eren's neck and shoulder to try and smother his laughter. Half of his face was exposed, which was mostly the lower half and Levi could see the way his own mouth stretched and a glimpse of teeth. 

"Do you not like it?" Eren asked hesitantly, voice small and unsure of what Levi's reaction would be to the photo.

"No--" Levi swallowed. "No, it's not that." 

"We don't have to put this one up. I just printed it out because I thought it looked nice." The raven noticed the way his Assistant nervously reached up and scratched at the back of his head. 

"It's fine." he said, voice strong and even despite the quivering of his own heart. "Put that one up too."

"You sure?" 

"Put it up before I change my mind." was all the older man said before he was walking over to the sectional and plopping down to watch the rest of Sherlock in peace. 

He heard Eren moving some things around but he very promptly kept his eyes trained on what was happening on the screen instead of letting them follow the brunet's every movement. It seemed that Levi was always hyper aware of Eren's presence no matter what they were doing. 

Levi left the rest of putting the picture up to Eren and once he was finished with that, the brunet sank into the sofa close to him and they watched Sherlock in silence. 

Despite trying his best to pay attention to what was happening in the show, Levi couldn't help but take notice of all the small things Eren was doing while watching the show. 

He was seat on the opposite corner of Levi, so there was almost too much space between them and Levi wished there weren't so much of it. He was almost too sure that if Eren were sitting closer to him, he would probably feel the heat radiating off his body. That was the thing about Eren that Levi had been forced to notice all day yesterday while they were walking around and taking pictures. Being in such close proximity to his Assistant for so many hours and being almost overly exposed to him had Levi noticing every little god damn thing.

Like Eren's scent. It was absolutely fucking everywhere if he actually took the time out to notice, which he had because he'd spent hours breathing in that now familiar scent in such intimate positions that it was hard for Levi _not_ to notice the faint smell of cinnamon and musk of whatever cologne Eren used, if it was even cologne at all. His scent was surprisingly sweet and spicy and it invaded the clean scent of his apartment which usually smelled of lavender, tea and mint. 

Now the two different scents were mingling together and creating an entirely new smell that Levi simultaneously liked and hated for varying reasons. But if he could, Levi would bottle it up and save it because it was a smell that was alarmingly calming to him.

He even noticed the way Eren had already gotten comfortable in his apartment, despite having only been inside of it three times and never for very long. How could he possibly sit there with his legs curled underneath him and a cushion hugged to his chest while watching television when his dick of a boss was sitting less than six feet away from him. It baffled the hell out of Levi because despite this being his apartment, _he_ was the one who was suddenly self-conscious of everything he was doing and unable to relax completely. 

Grey eyes trailed slowly across the cream colored cushions before landing on familiar sun-kissed skin and Levi was soon tracing every inch of it that he could see. There wasn't much, due to the fact that Eren was wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans but he traced the curve of his neck and noticed the moles he hadn't seen there before. He briefly wondered if Eren had any other moles on his body and if so, how many? 

"What time are our guests arriving?" 

Eren's sudden question was what shook Levi out of his reverie and brought him back to the present situation. 

"What?" was his intelligent reply. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently and he didn't like it. 

"I asked, when are our guests arriving? Miss Hanji said she was coming too, right?" 

"Unfortunately." came Levi's sour reply. "She's been such a pain in the ass ever since she found out she was pregnant. Erwin is even worse than usual because he's so busy fussing over her all the time." 

"Well, if it helps any, I bet Mr. Smith will be in desperate need of a drink or two tonight." the brunet laughed. 

"Are you suggesting we get Erwin shit-faced?" Levi asked with a slow forming smirk. 

Eren stared at him with his mouth opening and closing, "Well-- I mean, n-no, we probably shouldn't try getting him drunk. He's our boss." 

"Eren," the raven said very calmly as he turned to face Eren slightly. "Get one thing straight tonight. Inside the office, sure, Erwin's our boss. But outside the office? He's just my annoyingly rich best friend with his crazy pregnant wife."

His Assistant laughed nervously before he was relaxing again, "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's still hard to believe that you and Erwin and Miss Hanji went to college together." 

"And High School." Levi corrected without thinking. 

"High School too?" 

"Well, Erwin was a couple of grades ahead of me. But, yeah." 

"Wonder what that was like," Eren snorted. "I can't help but picture Mr. Smith being your typical cliche popular guy in High School who was on the football team and Prom King." 

"He was." 

"Seriously?" the brunet huffed. "I was just joking but, wow, so how exactly did you three even become friends?"

The raven shrugged, "I guess Hanji is really the one who's responsible for getting us all together. I was a loner in school, in case that wasn't obvious. Hanji was a slut for Science and Math and was on the debate team while Erwin was Quarter back for the Football team and the Golden Boy of the entire school. If our lives had been an 80's movie, we'd probably be closest to the fucking Breakfast Club." 

"Seems accurate," Eren nodded with a smile. "So, I'm assuming Hanji just decided you'd all be friends one day, huh?" 

"Basically. She's like a leech." 

"What's the story on how Erwin and Hanji got together, then? They're both so different. I can't imagine how they even got together in the first place." snorted Eren, turning in his seat so he could fully face Levi as well. 

"Well, that's actually a fucking hilarious story. One night in Freshmen year of College, there was this huge party in our dormitory and we all got drunk as all fuck. The next morning, Hanji and Erwin woke up in bed together and realized they'd hooked up the night before and after that, they just couldn't keep their hands off each other." At Eren's laughter, Levi sort of smiled and shook his head in fond exasperation. "I'm serious. The first two years of college was pretty much just Erwin and Hanji making out and doing it anywhere and everywhere. Then, I guess the two idiots realized they loved each other and Senior year of college, Erwin proposed and the rest is history."

"Somehow," Eren wheezed through the last of his laughter. "That's a lot less romantic than what I was expecting." 

Levi shrugged, "It's the truth and don't let those two idiots convince you otherwise. They always try to romanticize what actually happened." 

"Thanks for the warning," 

After that, they fell back into a companionable silence as Levi tried to focus on whatever was happening in this episode of Sherlock. He was so completely lost, he would definitely have to re-watch this in order to understand what happened. 

"What about you, Jaeger?" Levi found himself asking suddenly. 

"Hm? What about me?" the brunet asked distractedly. 

"You've been asking me a lot of questions regarding my high school and college experiences. What about you? Quid pro quo."

The brunet straightened up a bit, "There's not much to tell." 

"Bullshit." Levi said flatly. "Spill." 

"I mean it! There's not much to tell. As a kid and as a teenager, I had a lot of pent up anger, so I got into a lot of fights. I was a total trouble maker." 

"That makes two of us." the raven commented. "Go on." 

"I spent most of high school getting into fights and getting suspended. Honestly, the only reason I even graduated was because Armin saved my ass by tutoring me after school and on weekends. I kind of mellowed out Senior year because Mikasa got tired of my shit and threatened to beat my ass if I didn't get my shit together." Eren laughed openly at that memory but Levi could see the slight apprehension in his teal eyes. Mikasa didn't fuck around.

"College was mostly me partying it up with my friends and not much else." with another shrug of his shoulders, Eren pursed his lips together. "That's about it. The rest you know. I left without saying anything to anyone, moved here and started working for you." 

"Wow," the raven snorted before he was standing up from the sofa to stretch. "Boring. That wasn't even worth the time it took for you to tell that." 

"Hey," Eren pouted. "You're the one who asked, you jerk." 

"Yes, and I very much regret that. Turn that shit off and lets start getting a game plan for tonight ready." 

"Game plan?" Eren parroted, mimicking Levi's earlier movements and standing up to stretch. 

"Yes. Game plan. You can't honestly expect Nile to just waltz in here and take everything he sees and everything we do at face value. As of 6 p.m. tonight, we're officially returning to the newly engaged couple we passed off to your friends and family in Germany." 

"Okay, that makes sense." 

"The game is afoot." 

"Nerd." Eren snickered, earning him a face full of cushion.

\- X -

"Levi, could you preheat the oven to 425?"

The day had gone by surprisingly quickly, and before Levi knew it, it was 5 p.m. and their guests would be arriving within the hour. 

Levi had allowed Eren to use his shower, something he did his best not to think too hard about. He'd spent the time Eren used showering to re-watch the Sherlock episode from the beginning, just to distract himself from thinking about his very naked and wet Assistant just a few rooms away from him.

The raven fussed with the buttons on his oven's control panel before finally figuring out how to preheat and set the temperature. Once that was done, Eren asked Levi to help him with cutting the Leeks up. 

"Is this all going to be done by the time they get here?" Levi asked, tossing his cut up Leeks into a skillet Eren had heating on the stove with melted butter and oil. 

"It should. The recipe says this is a 30 minute meal with added 10 minute prep time." 

"So, 40 minutes, then." 

"... Well, yeah, if you wanna get technical." the brunet grumbled. "You know what, I've got this. You should go get changed." 

"Eren," Levi huffed. The sound was almost a laugh but he'd caught himself in time to stop it halfway. "Are you trying to run me out of my own kitchen so you can sulk?" he teased. 

"No!"

"Fine, I'll go get changed. Try not to burn down my kitchen while I'm away, brat." 

As he left the kitchen for his bedroom, Levi heard the exasperated huff of his name from his Assistant as he got further away. It had him smirking, if only just for a moment. 

It didn't take him long to get dressed, seeing as he didn't really put that much effort into picking his outfit. Levi decided to wear a very simple ensemble of a dark navy blue cable knit sweater thrown over a white long sleeved v-neck. The sweater was one of his older ones and it fit him a size or two too big, but Levi preferred it that way. Then he'd simply put on a pair of black slacks and left his feet bare. 

It was his damn apartment and he was being forced to hold this dinner party against his will. He could wear whatever the hell he wanted and if he didn't want to wear shoes, then he wouldn't. Nile wouldn't deny him his own comfort in his own home, that was for sure. 

He left his hair in it's natural off-center part and did very little to groom it. Luckily for him, his hair was pin-straight and not too thick so it needed little combing to bring it to order. Lastly, he dabbed on a little cologne on his neck and forearm. This was all the grooming he was prepared to do for Nile's company. 

"Levi, the chicken is in the oven!" Eren called from the kitchen, prompting the raven to follow the sound of his voice until he was joining the brunet back in his kitchen. "Oh, good. You're already done changing." 

"You should probably get ready, too. It's almost thirty minutes to six and I have a feeling Hanji and Erwin will probably get here early for whatever annoying reason." 

"Right, okay. The chicken needs to roast for twenty-five minutes. I set a timer, if I'm not dressed in twenty-five minutes, just turn the oven off and leave the chicken in." his Assistant instructed before he was bolting out of the kitchen toward Levi's bedroom.

Levi eyed the oven warily and hoped that it wouldn't take Eren twenty-five fucking minutes to change and get dressed. The older man didn't want to be responsible for something going wrong with their dinner, whether he intended it or not. Eren had worked hard on this meal, after all, and Levi would be a damn liar if he said he wasn't eager to try it.

Just as he expected, there was a set of very firm knocks on his door, alerting him to the presence of Erwin and no doubt, Hanji. Groaning quietly, Levi dragged his feet a bit upon walking to the foyer to open the door for his two oldest friends. 

Not surprisingly, Hanji was the first he saw upon opening the door. She held up what looked like a chocolate souffle and Levi wordlessly stepped aside and let her enter, which she did. 

"Good evening, Munchkin. I hope you don't mind that we're here early." 

Levi looked to Erwin next, who walked in after Hanji. He smiled fondly at Levi while removing his scarf, shoes and coat. 

"I do mind, but what the fuck does it matter? You're both already here and I can't do anything about it." 

Erwin took the dessert from his wife's hands and allowed her to remove her own heavy coat and scarf, followed by her shoes. The couple followed Levi into the kitchen, where the blond set the souffle down and was quick to replace his empty hands with Hanji's shoulders as he massaged them gently. 

"It smells amazing in here." Erwin said, sniffing the air and humming his appreciation. 

"Eren's handy work." Levi said with a jerk of his head toward the warm oven. "Don't ask me what he's making. I just know it's chicken." 

"Speaking of Eren," Hanji said in a sing-song tone. "Where is the little cutie? I wanna talk to him!" 

"He's getting changed. You can talk to him all you want at Dinner." 

"But that's no fun," The brunette pouted, leaning heavily against Erwin who kissed the top of her head lovingly. "That's the whole reason my boo bear and I came early, so we could comfortably brief each other on what we're not supposed to say around Nile." 

"It's called using Common Sense, dumbass." the shorter male sneered. "Anything that could compromise our cover is unsafe to talk about." 

"Well, obviously!" Hanji said with a roll of her eyes. "But, for instance, how long have Erwin and I known about you and Eren? I've already kind of implied that I at least knew about your relationship, but considering it was all kind of last minute, how long have I known?"

"Yes, well, that's your own fault for jumping the gun. Nobody asked for your help, yet you gave it without even considering anyone else's feelings first." Levi bit out sharply.

The kitchen fell completely silent after that and Levi felt a pang of guilt in his chest for being so curt with Hanji when he saw the slight remorse in her eyes.

"Levi, I'm sorry if this put you and Eren in an awkward position, but if I'm being honest here, it was the best plan I could think of to secure your promotion and it worked."

"Yeah," Levi sighed. "Yeah, I know it did. I'm just a little... stressed out lately. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Which was as close to an apology as one would get from Levi and Hanji knew it. 

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. You have every right to be upset with me, but, let me just remind you that I am with child and yelling at a pregnant woman is just evil." she grinned, earning her a deep laugh from her husband. 

"She's right, Levi." the taller blond agreed with a smug grin. 

Levi snorted loudly through his nose, "Fuck, you're both really milking this pregnancy, aren't you? She's nine weeks pregnant, Erwin. That kid is currently the size of a bean." 

"So?" Erwin said defensively, puffing out his chest and wrapping his arms protectively around Hanji's stomach. "It's not wrong of us to want to be extra careful while Hanji's pregnant. Most miscarriages happen within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy."

Hanji smiled softly while craning her neck to look back at her husband while she placed her own hands on top of Erwin's larger ones that were now gently rubbing at her belly. She kissed his jaw and Levi felt a bit like an asshole for teasing Erwin and Hanji about their insecurity. Of course, they were being extra cautious. This was their first successful pregnancy in all the years they'd been trying to conceive. He was sure they were both nervous and scared and he wasn't helping any.

"Sorry," he mumbled, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his undercut while his cheeks heated with shame.

"Don't worry about it, Levi." Erwin said fondly. "Perhaps we have been a little overbearing." 

"No, you haven't. I'm just being the royal dick that I am and complaining about everything, as usual." he said with a sad sort of smile.

"Oh, I don't know about that." Hanji sang. "You seem to be in much higher spirits lately. Less grumpy and more relaxed." 

"Well, then you need to get your eyes checked, shitty-glasses." 

"Ahem," Erwin suddenly cleared his throat, catching both Levi and Hanji's attention and prompting them to look at him. "Could we possibly move this conversation to the living room? I'm starving and if I inhale anymore of these heavenly aromas, I don't think my stomach could take it." 

The blond smiled sheepishly while his wife cooed and patted a hand against his stomach. Levi glanced back at the timer on his oven and realized the chicken still needed another fifteen minutes. He was a little nervous about leaving the kitchen, but, he didn't trust Hanji alone in his apartment without his supervision. 

"Fine." He said, following his two friends out of the kitchen and into the living room. 

"Wait a minute," Hanji had said upon entering. Levi noticed the way her eyes narrowed as she scanned the entirety of the room. "Something's different..." 

"Well, duh. We did move some of Eren's shit in here for tonight." The raven said with a roll of his eyes. 

"YOU PUT UP PICTURES OF YOURSELVES TOGETHER!" came Hanji's brilliant but very loud deduction. 

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." 

"There's so many! Look at them, Erwin!!" 

Levi groaned as Hanji and Erwin huddled together to stare at the pictures that he and Eren took and placed on the mantel earlier that day. He didn't know why, but there was something embarrassing about his two oldest friends marveling over pictures of him and his Assistant together. Maybe because some of them seemed so intimate. 

"Wait, when did you two take these?" Erwin asked, shooting a curious look back at Levi. 

"Yesterday." 

"Yesterday?" Hanji squawked. "This is why you called Erwin and asked for the rest of the afternoon off?! LEVI, HOW DARE YOU PLAY HOOKY WITHOUT ME." 

"No, that's not why I asked Erwin for the rest of the afternoon off yesterday!" the raven hissed. "It was... for something else." 

"Oh. My. God. Sugar butt, look! Levi's _SMILING_ in this one!"

"What!?" this time, it was Erwin who squawked in surprise as he leaned forward to study the picture that Levi was a little self-conscious about now. "But how... Levi hasn't smiled for a picture since Junior year of college." 

As one, the couple turned expectant stares to the raven who was awkwardly shifting from foot to foot and clearing his throat while refusing to meet their gazes. He didn't understand why Hanji and Erwin had to make such a big deal about this? It was just a picture and yeah, okay, so he was smiling but it wasn't like he had done it voluntarily. 

"Levi?" the couple said in unison. 

"Um, I think-- the chicken is done, gotta go check on the chicken." 

The raven was all too quick to leave the living room and retreat back into the kitchen. Luckily, neither Erwin nor Hanji tried following him, but he wasn't sure how long they would last before they were pestering him about that damn photo again. He was starting to regret letting Eren put it up in the first place. 

Alone to himself, Levi sighed heavily and leaned against one of the counter tops. Nile wasn't even fucking here yet and he was already exhausted and wishing this night were over. If this was the type of third degree he should be expecting to get through out the night, he wasn't sure how long he'd last without having some kind of nervous breakdown. 

Suddenly feeling the desperate need for a drink, Levi opened the fridge and busted out the bottle of wine he and Eren and picked up on the way from the grocery store. It was nice and chilled and Levi made quick work of popping the cork and serving himself a generous amount in a glass. 

He took a moment to swirl the liquid around before taking one long, deliberate sip of it. Half the glass was gone by the time he tilted the glass back upright and Levi hoped the alcohol would help calm his nerves, even just a little bit. Maybe it wasn't a good thing, relying on alcohol this much whenever he was nervous or anxious about something. Would this count as borderline alcoholism? He'd look into later. 

"Hey, sorry I took so long. I couldn't figure out what shirt to wear tonight." the sound of Eren's voice startled him slightly. "You okay? You look a little tired." 

"Fine." he said, voice a bit hoarse. He cleared it, took another sip of his wine and straightened up. "I'm fine. Hanji and Erwin are just being, well, Hanji and Erwin." 

"Oh, they're here?" 

Levi finally turned to look at his Assistant, and he knew that the sharp intake of air he took wasn't nearly as quiet as he had hoped it was because Eren seemed to notice and then he was looking nervous. 

_God_ , Eren looked amazing. Clearly, he had put way more effort into his outfit for tonight than Levi had. He wore a simple yet stunning cream-colored long sleeved v-neck that outlined his broad shoulders and wide back and flattered his lithe physique and tapered waistline. The contrast of the cream v-neck against his beautifully tanned skin caused Levi to swallow and lick his lips without really thinking. 

Then there was that damn necklace around his neck; a black cord with a bronze key hanging right in the dip of Eren's sinfully delicious looking collar bones-- and his pants, Jesus, white chino pants that were cuffed at the bottom. Eren's signature look was usually slacks or cuffed jeans, but Levi had never seen him wear white chinos before. They flattered his muscled thighs and no doubt, if Eren were to turn around, they probably hugged his ass just right too. 

It was so unfair. His Assistant looked like something that walked right out of a god damn GQ magazine, with his hair a mess and left casually hanging in his big, gorgeous eyes. Yet, Levi probably looked like the tired, thirty-two-year-old man he was who was preparing for a night in while wearing his most comfortable sweater and slacks and bare foot. 

Eren seemed like the type of person who didn't need to do very much in the morning because he could easily pull off that rushed-just-out-of-bed look without making him look sloppy or lazy. Levi, on the other hand, had to take his time getting ready in the morning, which is usually why he always gave himself at least an hours worth of extra time to shower, change and groom himself before going anywhere. 

It just proved to the raven that he and Eren were just two completely different type of people with two completely different types of lifestyle; they were practically polar opposites. 

"Is this outfit alright?" the brunet asked hesitantly. "I wasn't sure if it was too casual or not." 

Levi took a moment to gather enough saliva in his suddenly dry mouth before he even attempted to speak. Apparently, realizing his Assistant was nothing short of a walking sex magnet on legs for the umpteenth time that week wasn't enough to stop Levi from still getting a little awed by him each time Eren surprised him.

"No, it's fine." he said. He seemed to be using the word 'Fine' a lot today. "Perfect, actually." 

"Really?" Eren brightened upon hearing his words, a smile breaking across his handsome face. "Great. I'm so relieved." 

"Although," Levi continued, taking another quick sip of his wine before setting it down on the counter top. "You made me feel a little under dressed now. I didn't really put in any fucking effort and it shows." 

"No!" his Assistant blurted a little too loudly. He seemed to realize his mistake and he blushed, covering his mouth with his hand. "I mean, you look great. Maybe I'm just saying this because I'm only ever used to seeing you wear turtle necks, but I think you look good. I'm not used to seeing your neck." he finished lamely with a nervous laugh.

Feeling his own cheeks warm, Levi promptly stared at his wine glass and hoped his own blush wasn't at all obvious. 

"Idiot." he murmured quietly, though it was said in fondness.

"Besides, I think we kind of match. You in dark colors and me in light colors. We can bullshit Nile and say we planned it." 

"Mm." 

Suddenly, the oven timer dinged and both men turned to stare at it. Levi stepped aside as Eren grabbed on oven mitt and pulled the oven door open so he could check on his hard work. 

"Hmm. It's still a little juicy. Maybe I'll just turn it off and let it sit in the oven a little while longer." the brunet muttered with his brows pinched in frustration.

"Don't worry about it. It's still about fifteen minutes till 6 p.m. We've still got time." 

"I guess you're right." 

Eren closed the oven door and fiddled around with some buttons on Levi's stove before he was removing the oven mitt and straightening up. 

"Okay. I think that should help. Are Miss Hanji and Mr. Smith in the living room? It's weirdly quiet." 

"Yeah, now that you mention it." Levi mumbled. He grabbed his wine glass and walked out of the kitchen, the sound of Eren's feet following right behind him. "It's too quiet out here. Which means you're both either making out or you broke something and you're trying to hide it from me." 

They rounded the corner and found Erwin and Hanji curled up in a corner of Levi's sectional. As he'd predicted, they were indeed doing some form of making out, although it was more like lazily kissing each other than hungrily devouring each other's faces. 

"Well, at least nothing's broken." the raven huffed upon entering the living room. 

Eren lingered by the hallway's entrance behind him, looking very stiff and nervous. Unfortunately for him, Hanji was the first one to get her hands on him in a flash of movement that was too fast for even Levi's keen eyes to follow. 

"Eren!" she chirped excitedly. "Don't you look stunning, as usual!" 

"Um, hello, Miss Hanji. You look nice."

"Oh, Eren. Enough of that Miss Hanji stuff. We're not at work! Just call me Hanji and call my sugar bear Erwin. We're not your bosses tonight, we're your friends!" The brunette pulled the younger man into a bone crushing hug and Levi sucked his teeth loudly. 

"You're going to snap his spine like that, four-eyes. Ease back." 

"Oh, Levi, I almost forgot! Catch!" Just as quickly as she was hugging Eren to death, Hanji was releasing him and turning to throw something at Levi's head with fierce accuracy. 

Luckily, Levi was sharper than most and he caught the item Hanji had thrown at him before it made contact with his face. He looked the item in hand over and realized it was a small box. 

"The fuck," he muttered under his breath as he turned it around and read the label. "Hanji." Levi was suddenly scowling up at his best friend who was beaming from ear to ear. "Why the fuck did you just throw a box of flavored condoms at me?" 

"I bought em on the way over here when I asked Erwin to stop off and buy me some cranberry juice. I figured you and Eren probably didn't have any." 

"You didn't." Erwin said sounding a bit affronted, but Levi could see the struggle he was having with keeping a straight face. 

Eren made a sort of choking noise and Levi could see how absolutely beet red his face went at the mention of the condoms. If Levi weren't so annoyed, he probably would have been just as embarrassed. It's bad enough that Erwin ended up losing his battle to keep a straight face and he was dissolving into a fit of howling laughter. 

"I'm throwing these out." Levi growled out before he was making his way toward the hall. 

"No, don't!" Hanji whined, running after Levi and snatching the box of condoms out of his hands. "I paid good money for these and it was hard to find them in extra large!" 

Eren was now burying his heated face in both hands and Erwin was having trouble breathing as his laughter increased. Finally, Levi felt his own face heat at her words. 

" _Hanji_." he hissed quietly.

In his distraction, Hanji snatched the box away from him and held it to her chest protectively. 

"Okay, okay, they're actually just large. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't know the size of your dick, sweetie?" 

Levi's mouth dropped open and just sort of hung there as he was officially rendered speechless for the first time since he couldn't remember when. Hanji smiled, patted the top of his head and side-stepped him before disappearing somewhere into his apartment. 

At that point, the raven gave up. Hanji accomplished whatever goal it was she was after and she'd defeated him, _again_. After sixteen years of friendship, Levi still wasn't any good at predicting what tricks Hanji had up her sleeve and he settled with the fact that he probably never would.

\- X -

Nile arrived at 6 p.m. on the dot, which only annoyed Levi because, of course, the prick had to arrive exactly on time. Levi was tempted to point out how that was a little creepy, but, that would basically be the pot calling the kettle black. 

As the host, Levi was the one to answer the door and let Nile in, although he had greeted him with a simple grunt before walking back into the living room and leaving Nile to removed his own coat and shoes. 

"Ah, you're here already, Erwin." Nile said as he entered the living room. Levi noticed he was holding a very expensive bottle of wine. Well, at least Nile had kept good on his promise of bringing good alcohol.

Eren was in the kitchen prepping their meal for serving, while Levi was sat on the love seat across from the sectional occupied by Erwin.

"Yes, well, Hanji wanted to get here early." the blond said, standing up and greeting Nile with a very professional handshake. Levi subtlety rolled his eyes and brought the rim of his glass up to his lips to take a sip of the red liquid inside; this was his second glass already.

"It's smells delicious." the taller raven commented. "What's on the menu for tonight?"

At Nile's greasy smile, Levi took a long swig of his wine and hoped it would be enough for him to bite back the insult that was on the very tip of his tongue.

"It's chicken." he answered curtly. "Eren cooked it." 

"Ah," Nile said, his thin eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. "I wasn't expecting Eren to be the Chef for tonight." 

"Yes, it was quite a surprise to all of us that Eren is the Chef for tonight. But, I'm confident that Levi helped." Erwin laughed, blue eyes giving the shorter man a knowing look. 

The raven frowned, "Naturally," he huffed. "What kind of Fiance would I be if I let Eren do all of the work?" 

"Oh!" At the surprised sound of Nile's voice, Erwin and Levi looked up at him in unison to find the man studying the arrangement of picture frames on Levi's mantel. "Well, this is a rather nice picture of you two, Levi." the man chuckled. 

He picked up the frame of Levi and Eren laughing and the raven cursed silently to himself. Why the hell was everyone focusing on that picture only? There were several others and yet they all chose to dwell on the one of him smiling.

"Yes," Levi said, his voice a bit rough. "Eren and I thought so too. That's kind of why we decided to frame it." Sarcasm was always his go to defense mechanism and it always worked wonders with turning people off to conversations with him.

Nile seemed to have developed some form of immunity to Levi's sarcasm at this point, but he could still see the stiff unease in the taller man's shoulders as he laughed the sarcastic comment off. 

"Of course! Well, I suppose I was just a bit surprised to see a photo of you smiling, is all."

"We were all a bit surprised." Erwin agreed, doing his best to keep the conversation light and amiable. "It seems Eren has had quite the positive effect on Levi." 

"It would seem that way." Nile nodded. 

Levi groaned quietly, feeling like he was surrounded by a couple of old men. He always hated the respectful and dignified way Nile and Erwin spoke to each other in. Apparently, even in a casual, non-business setting, this was their default mode. What Levi wouldn't give to see what Erwin and Nile were like in Business School together. It was hard to imagine Nile as a young man; he just had one of those faces that has always looked more mature.

"Nile!" Hanji's jovial tone cut into the stiffness. Levi almost allowed a sigh of relief at her presence because he was starting to feel very uncomfortable. "You're right on time, as usual! Dinner is almost served!" 

"Ah, Hanji. You're absolutely glowing tonight. Pregnancy suits you." 

Levi wanted to gag, because who the hell complimented someone like that? 'Pregnancy suits you'? His own opinion of the odd compliment didn't seem to matter since Hanji beamed from ear to ear while rubbing her non-existent baby bump and Levi could see Erwin preening out of the corner of his eyes. Apparently, his two best friends took the compliment for what it was. 

"Thank you, Nile. Has Levi offered to give you the grand tour of his humble abode?" Hanji asked, eyeing Levi who nearly choked on a sip of his wine. 

"No, but I wouldn't want to impose. He seems rather comfortable where he is, currently." The taller raven smirked Levi's way as he cleared his throat and tried to smother a cough but wasn't very successful. 

"Oh, Mr. Dok." Eren's voice filtered through the room. Levi's attention was immediately on the brunet, grey eyes glued to his lithe form as he strode into the living room with all the false confidence of actually living in this apartment-- like he owned it, and held a hand out to shake Nile's. "Good evening. Welcome to our home." he smiled and Levi felt his heart skip a beat.

Nile seemed surprised to see Eren for some odd reason, but then he was taking the brunet's hand in his own and giving it a brief shake while flashing a smile himself. 

"Good evening, Eren. Please, just call me Nile. We're not in the office, after all."

The brunet nodded before striding over to Levi's sitting form. The raven watched him with careful eyes but Eren seemed absolutely calm and relaxed as he touched one of Levi's shoulders gently. The raven saw the glint of the engagement ring on his finger and his heart sort of swelled. Levi momentarily wondered if he'd ever stop getting that strange feeling in his chest each time he saw Eren wearing that damn ring.

"Dinner needs a few more minutes. I'm sorry for the delay." As if he'd been doing this for years, Eren sat on the armrest of the love seat and gently started running his hands through the side of Levi's undercut. It was such an intimate gesture that it almost startled Levi, but he quickly realized that Eren was putting on a show for Nile while really trying to sell this whole facade.

Sealing the deal, Levi reached up and over his right shoulder for Eren's free hand that he knew was resting on the back of the love seat. Upon touching familiar warmth, the older man threaded their fingers together in an effortless move. He could see the way Nile was eyeing them skeptically for a moment, before dark eyes broke away and trailed elsewhere. 

"No worries. Hanji was just asking me if Levi had offered to give me a tour of your home yet." 

"To which he said no! Can you believe that, Eren? Your Fiance has no manners as a host, it seems." said brunette pouted. 

Levi almost scowled at her, but the feel of Eren's fingers playing with the fuzz at the back of his head and almost massaging his scalp made him a bit boneless and a lot relaxed. Still, he could tell that Hanji was clearly up to something. He just didn't know what, exactly. 

"Well, since Dinner is going to be a little while longer, we could give Nile a tour now, right, Levi?" Eren suddenly leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Levi's temple, in a similar manner of Erwin and Hanji. Clearly, Eren had been studying them and taking notes. Still, it surprised Levi a bit and he inhaled sharply. 

"Ahem, Well," the raven tried playing it off as a heavy sigh, which he thought was pretty convincing. "I suppose. Although, I don't really see the point." 

"Fantastic!" Hanji cheered. She was already herding Nile out of the living room and Erwin was quick to stand and follow after them. 

Eren and Levi were a bit slower to follow, separating while they both stood up and lingered back in the living room for a beat. 

"You're surprisingly calmer than I would have expected." Levi said, taking a half step forward before he was blindly reaching behind him to thread his hand with Eren's once more. 

"Don't be fooled," Eren said quietly under his breath. Now, Levi could sense the strain in his voice. They caught up with Erwin, Hanji and Nile in the dining room and Levi took the moment of their distraction while Hanji was occupying Nile with Levi's dishware to look back at the brunet.

Eren was smiling casually, but Levi could see the slight tension in his shoulders and spine. He was actually quite nervous.

"I'm pretty sure my ass is sweating." the brunet said through his smile, and it was such an odd thing for Levi to hear despite the easy-going expression on Eren's face that it earned him a quiet little laugh from the older man. "Did you-- Did you just laugh?" Eren asked, eyes wide and sparkling and his formerly strained smile slowly turning genuine.

"Maybe." Levi murmured. "It's probably just the two glasses of wine, though." He tugged the brunet into the room after him and by then, Levi had gotten over the mild amusement he'd gotten from Eren's offhanded comment about his ass sweating. 

Whether it was actually the alcohol or not, Levi felt very loose and relaxed despite the stressful situation they were in. Maybe he was drunk off of only two glasses of wine, or maybe he was just drunk off of Eren's touch; or maybe it was a little bit of both.

The tour of his apartment was unsurprisingly very short. It wasn't like his place was all that big, but apparently Hanji managed to extend the tour by taking Nile into Levi's bedroom, which Levi hadn't been very happy about. 

"And, last but not least, the Master bedroom." She announced with a huge smile. 

The small group of adults entered the spacious bedroom and Nile hummed and nodded his appreciation of the decor and the furniture. It was as he was turning to make a U turn out of the bedroom that he stopped mid-step and looked at the little black and red box of cherry flavored condoms that were sitting out on the night stand next to Levi's bed. 

Every pair of eyes in the room followed his gaze and Eren was giving a silent gasp of horror while Hanji was grinning and Erwin was trying to muffle his laughter. Levi, on the other hand, wasn't all that mortified anymore. He simply met Nile's puzzled stare flatly and held it without wavering. 

"Um, perhaps you should put those away next time, Levi." the older man had tried to laugh the whole awkward situation off, but Levi wasn't going to let him off without a little bit of embarrassment tonight. 

"What can I say? Sometimes Eren and I need quick access to those sorts of things." the shorter raven shrugged. Nile cleared his throat while tugging at the collar of his button up and Levi felt a tiny smirk curling the corner of his mouth. 

"Levi!" Eren hissed quietly at him.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know these things embarrass you." Levi took the hand that he was grasping in his own and lifted it up so his lips brushed against the back of Eren's knuckles and the brunet blushed. "Next time I won't forget. So, forgive me?"

"F-Fine." his Assistant stuttered out, looking absolutely adorable with his cheeks flushed red and that indignant pout on his face.

"Well," Nile coughed, breaking the 'moment' between Levi and Eren and capturing everyone's attention. "How about that dinner?" he asked with a practiced smile.

"Oh, yes, of course. Levi, get everyone seated in the dining room and I'll go check on the chicken." 

"Of course, darling." Oh, boy, was Levi laying the terms of endearment on thick tonight. 

He was sure Eren wasn't appreciating any of his overplayed sarcasm, but Levi just couldn't help it. He was in a surprisingly good mood all of a sudden and no longer dreading this evening as much as he was earlier.

\- X -

"That meal was absolutely excellent, Eren." Nile complimented while wiping his mouth with a napkin and sighing. 

"Indeed," Erwin agreed with a warm smile. He wrapped an arm around Hanji's shoulders and rubbed little circles into her flesh. "I think we can all agree that Eren's cooking deserves an A+." 

"Levi sure is one lucky guy." Hanji sang. "Marrying himself one fantastic little cook." 

"Thank you." Eren said a bit shyly. "It was really nothing. My mother is a much better cook than I'll ever be. Levi can vouch for that, right, _honey_?" 

At some point during their meal, Eren and Levi had started taking turns calling each other disgustingly loving nicknames and it had turned into a game of sorts. Though who was winning and what they were competing for, Levi had absolutely no clue. He didn't think keeping score really mattered at this point. 

"Mm, well, Carla's cooking is definitely something to write home about, but," grey eyes flashed over to meet challenging teal and Levi decided to be bold and lean in for a chaste kiss. Eren seemed a little surprised at first, but soon he was playing along and smiling against Levi's lips. The kiss was soft, innocent and sweet. Just a simple press of lips, though Levi did linger a second more than he had to, just to make it seem more real. Not because he was in love with the sensation of Eren's baby soft lips or anything. Not at all. That was preposterous. "I think you've picked up enough of her skill to at least stand a fighting chance."

"Awwe," Hanji cooed, breaking off into a sort of squeal at the tail end of it. "You're both so cute, I can't even stand it!"

Eren and Levi took their time pulling away, their eyes meeting and noses brushing. Again, whether it was the wine's doing, or just the overall mood Eren was putting him in, Levi allowed a small smile to slip and the brunet returned it in kind, although his was no doubt much sweeter and far more beautiful. Then, they returned to their original positions seated next to each other and Eren smiled to the others at the table before asking, 

"Is anyone ready for dessert?" 

"Oh, no, please." Nile declined politely, one hand on his stomach. "Give me a minute to digest that wonderful meal before we get to dessert, Eren." 

"Of course," the brunet laughed. "How about I go get us some more wine? More cranberry juice, Hanji?" 

"Oh, yes, please, Eren. You're such a doll!" 

"Actually, how about opening that bottle I brought? No point in letting it sit in the fridge all evening." Nile suggested. 

"Sure. I'll be right back."

It didn't take Eren long to go into the kitchen, which wasn't very far, and retrieve the chilled bottle of very expensive wine that Nile had brought along with a fresh glass of cranberry juice for Hanji who thanked Eren with a big smile. 

"Wow, Nile. This is truly the good stuff. Becoming a bit of a wine snob lately, are we?" Erwin teased. 

"Oh, hush, Smith." the lanky raven chuckled as he uncorked the bottle with practiced ease. "It's not my fault I've acquired a taste for this specific brand of wine." 

"That's because you're getting old, I'm afraid." smirked the blond. "With age comes the taste for finer things. What happened to the Nile Dok who used to drink cheap champagne out of paper cups in college?" 

"The same thing that happened to the Erwin Johnathan Smith who used to play beer pong with the interns in the office on Fridays. He grew up."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that!" Hanji laughed. "Yeah, those were the days. Ah, when did we all get so old?" 

"Age is a terrible thing in some aspects, but, at least I can afford to buy expensive imported wines like this and not worry about how it will effect my finances." Nile joked, pouring everyone a glass of his fancy imported wine. 

"Where is it imported from?" Eren asked, curiously sniffing at his wine before sipping it tentatively.

"France." the lanky man sitting across from them preened. "The french do it better, after all." 

"Here, here." Levi mocked toasted, lifting his glass above him a bit before he was drinking from it.

"That's right, Levi. I keep forgetting you're originally from Quebec. Care to give us a little French lesson?"

"Not really," the raven answered bluntly. "I only like to revert to my native tongue when I want to insult someone." that earned him laughter all around, but Levi had been serious.

"Wait, so, since Eren's parents live in Germany--" Hanji began.

"Oh, they only started living there again recently. They own a home here in the states, too. My parents just prefer to stay in their house in Germany since Mikasa and I graduated."

"That means you can speak German, right?" Big brown eyes lit up in excitement as Hanji leaned toward Eren a bit. "Would you mind demonstrating a bit for us?" 

"Oh, um, well..." Teal eyes sought out Levi's and the raven shrugged. It wasn't like Eren needed his permission for anything, so, it was a bit unusual that he seemed to be seeking it now. "Okay, um... _Jedes Böhnchen gibt ein Tönchen_." ( _Beans make you fart [every bean has a tone]_ )

"Ooh!" Hanji said sounding extremely awed. Erwin and Nile looked thoroughly impressed, on the other hand. "What did you say?"

"Um, it's kind of hard to translate in english. It's just a german expression some people use." 

Well, a part of Levi hoped that Eren had just insulted everyone at this table, but, he had a feeling he didn't. That was strictly Levi's area of expertise. 

"Levi! It's your turn! Eren shared, so now you have to!" 

At Hanji's demand, the raven rolled his eyes. "It's not as fun because you understand the shit I say so I can't insult anyone without your big mouth translating it." 

"Oh, come on, Levi! I promise I won't translate! Ple-e-e-e-ase~? Your french always sounds so nice because of that low voice of yours. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!" Hanji shivered while laughing.

Well, if this was going to be his only chance to say something in french that no one understood tonight, then, he'd rather save the insults and continue playing the pointless but very interesting game of overplayed flirting with Eren. It would probably be his only opportunity to one-up him for the rest of the night. 

So, with another sip of his wine, Levi turned in his seat to face Eren and he was soon reaching out his left hand. His noticed the way his engagement ring glinted in the soft lighting of the dining room, but then his fingertips came into contact with the warm flesh of Eren's right cheek and his Assistant was turning to give him his full attention.

Levi let his hand linger there, cupping the younger man's cheek while he gazed into those amazing pools of forest green and ocean blue swirling together to make up the stunning color that was Eren's eyes. They were so deep, so expressive that Levi almost felt like he could name each and every emotion that reflected in the brunet's eyes in that moment. 

Taking a deep breath, Levi spoke softly. " _Qu'est-ce que tu fais en hiver d'avoir des beaux yeux de même?_ " ( _What do you do in winter to have such beautiful eyes?_ )

It was question Levi wished he could ask in a language that Eren could understand, but because he couldn't, he would settle with this, for now. He couldn't help but notice the way Eren's soft breathing stuttered a bit, his eyes hooding heavily as he watched Levi's lips. He both heard and saw Eren swallow and Levi was so fucking tempted to just lean in and claim those lips for his own. It was all he wanted in that moment in time.

Well, that and for the rest of the people in his apartment to leave so he could kiss the hell out of his Assistant. The urge to kiss him was so strong and fierce that it slightly terrified him, and that was what snapped him out of his trance-like state and forced him to play off the heated moment as just a very good act.

"Well, to be fair, it wasn't really french so much as it was Quebecois but you get the picture." he said, leaning back into his seat and adjusting his position so that he was facing his guests, reluctantly. 

"Wow," Hanji said, giving a low whistle and an eyebrow waggle that Levi deemed highly unnecessary. "Would you like the rest of us to leave? Because, we can, if you want." she teased. 

"Don't be ridiculous." the raven said with an eye roll. 

"H-How about that Souffle?" Eren asked, shooting up from his seat and gathering dishes. It was too obvious to not only Levi but certainly everyone at the table just how flushed Eren's face was as he scurried off into the kitchen. 

Levi decided he'd better help out and started gathering dishes from the table as well. Plus, he needed to make sure he didn't just cross some kind of line earlier or make things extremely awkward between them because that hadn't been his intention.

Upon entering the kitchen, Eren was busy prepping the chocolate Souffle Hanji and Erwin had brought with them earlier. He hadn't meant to startle him, but Levi had done just that when he dumped the dirty dishes into the rack of the dishwasher and slammed the door shut with a little too much force. 

"Jesus, Levi. You scared me."

"Sorry." 

The two men fell silent as Eren leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. He flashed Levi a lopsided grin and the raven relaxed, all worried of whether he made things awkward with his last stunt banished from his mind completely thanks to that smile. 

"So, on a scale of one to ten, how well do you think we're doing out there?" 

"100." Levi scoffed. "We should both be nominated for a fucking academy award for our performance tonight. Too bad we're not getting paid to do this." 

Eren laughed and playfully swatted at his shoulder, "Well, can't say I disagree with you. If Nile still doesn't believe us after everything we've been doing so far, I think we might just have to make out in front of him." 

"Ah, it's Germany all over again." the raven sighed. "I feel like it wasn't nearly this hard to convince your friends and family that we were actually engaged." 

"Probably because it wasn't. They most likely took our engagement at face-value." 

"Either way," Levi shrugged. "Germany was definitely good practice for us." 

Before the chit-chat could go any further, Levi heard a painfully familiar voice heading down the hallway and into the kitchen. Nile was probably heading to use the bathroom, but in order to get there, he had to cut through the kitchen. 

He came up with a very risky idea, one that could either go very wrong or very right, depending on his execution. They nearly had Nile convinced, Levi was sure of it, but there was still something holding the man back from buying their story completely. What Eren had said moments ago about them needing to make out in front of Nile in order to seal the deal wasn't exactly a terrible idea, but, if Levi wanted to make it look authentic he'd have to take it a step further than just making out with his Assistant. 

Very risky plan, indeed, but one Levi was willing to put into action. Especially since it meant he could finally kiss those damn lips that kept taunting him since earlier.

In a quick flurry of movements, Levi was closing the gap between him and Eren and practically pinning the taller brunet back against the counter top, which worked perfectly for what Levi intended to do. 

"Levi, wha--" Eren hadn't gotten the chance to even finish that sentence before Levi was reaching a hand for the back of his head and bringing him down to meet his searing kiss. 

The older man swallowed down every little noise Eren made as he hungrily devoured those lips like his very life depended on it. He didn't show mercy or ease up when he felt Eren's hands grip onto the material of his sweater and ball into fists, he simply kept biting and sucking on those lips until they finally submitted to his will and granted him entrance. 

It was at this point that Levi knew his plan had gone right, seeing as Eren hadn't rejected him or pushed him away. Though, it was also safe to say that Levi was no longer thinking of the plan anymore thanks to the way Eren's tongue wrapped around his and just caused his brain to turn to mush. Christ, it had been way too long since he'd kissed anyone like this and it felt so damn good to just lose himself in the heat of it all. 

He felt the way Eren shivered when he snaked one of his hands underneath the hem of his shirt to run over his flat stomach that contracted and flexed underneath his fingertips. All that smooth skin and warmth just reminded Levi that Eren's neck was very much at his mercy, so, with great reluctance, the raven pulled his lips away from that searching mouth and he was making quick work of licking and sucking at the pulse point on Eren's neck. 

"L-Levi." came Eren's stuttered whisper through labored breaths. It helped spur him on as he continued to suck and bite until he left an angry red mark.

"Ahem," at the sound of Nile's very loud throat clearing, Levi stopped his assault on his Assistant's vulnerable neck and the two of them turned to see the man standing in the kitchen's entrance looking very awkward and maybe the tiniest bit flushed. "Gentlemen, I understand it must be hard to hold yourselves back while in the presence of company but I ask that you try a little harder to hold out. At least, until your guests are out the door." 

Levi's risky plan had been a success. It was obvious that the compromising position he put Eren and himself in had completely made a believer out of Nile, who flashed them a strained smile before he was passing through the kitchen to head to the bathroom. 

With a surprising amount of reluctance, Levi separated from the heated warmth of Eren's body allowing the hand that had slipped underneath his shirt to slip out before he took two steps away and stopped pinning his Assistant against the counter top. 

Eren stayed frozen in place, his face completely flushed up to the tips of his ears. Levi almost felt bad for just suddenly tongue fucking the kid out of nowhere, but at the same time, looking at the blossoming bruise forming on Eren's pulse point and hearing the way he breathlessly said his name while feeling him up made the guilt immediately disappear. 

"We'll talk about it later." the raven said with all the nonchalance in the world. Eren seemed to finally snap at his words and soon the brunet was gaping at him as Levi walked out of the kitchen.

\- X -

They, in fact, did not get to talk about it later, as Hanji and company had decided to drag this dinner out for as long as possible. They'd nearly emptied the bottle of wine that Nile had brought with him, but the mood had turned into a pleasantly drunk and jovial one with playful jabs and casual insults being flung around left and right. 

"Remember when I pierced Levi's ears for him?" Hanji had giggled. She was probably the only one at the table who was completely sober, but she was acting as if she wasn't. "He took it like a man and didn't even flinch when I pricked his ear lobe with the needle!" 

"Tch, I regret letting you pierce my ears." the raven had frowned, massaging his ear lobes protectively. "Simply because you did it with an ice cube and a fucking sewing needle." 

"Seriously?" Eren asked, eyes wide and a smile on his face. "That's dangerous, though. What if it had gotten infected?" 

"It didn't." Hanji defended, puffing her chest out and grinning. "I knew what I was doing."

"I never asked her to pierce something for me ever again. It's bad enough I was completely shit-faced when I asked her to do it in the first place."

"Hey! At least you still have them and they didn't close!" 

"I think everyone at this table with the exception of Eren has been at the mercy of Hanji's hands when it came to piercing something." Erwin winced, pressing a hand over his left pectoral. 

Eren's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as realization hit him and Levi and Hanji snorted at the same time.

"That's right," Nile laughed when he seemed to remember something. "I do recall that you let Hanji pierce your nipple one night after graduation." 

Levi heard Eren muffling his snickers and he smirked, "As someone who was present at the graduation party and witnessed the piercing of said nipple first hand, I would be honored to tell the story." 

"Oh, Jesus, yes!" Hanji cackled. "I would do it but I don't think I could tell it with a straight face." 

"Hence, why I'm doing it, dipshit." 

"Do go on, Levi. I wasn't present for this event but I've heard enough about it." Nile smirked, threading his fingers together while leaning forward to listen in earnest.

"Um, why can't I tell the story? It's my nipple piercing." Erwin pouted. 

Levi scoffed at him, "Because, you were so drunk you don't even remember what happened. Just shut up and sit there quietly." 

Erwin sunk into his chair looking about ready to sulk while the rest of the table waited impatiently for Levi to begin this glorious tale. 

"Erwin had just graduated from Business School and Hanji decided it would be a good idea to throw him a party with all of our friends. Naturally, since it's Hanji's party planning, the whole thing got out of fucking control." 

"Hey," the brunette said with a shrug. "It's not a Hanji party unless there's loss of control." 

"Anyway," the raven ignored her. "Not surprisingly, Erwin and pretty much everyone got drunk as all fuck and started playing a truth or dare game, which in my opinion was stupid as fuck. Pretty sure Hanji got dared to go streaking around campus or confess her deepest darkest secret and she chose to streak." 

"That's my wife." Erwin sighed, but there was a very obvious smile on his face as he said it.

"Yeah and at least she had the fucking balls to take the dare like a man. You, on the other hand, took your dare like a little baby." Levi teased. 

"In my defense," the blond cleared his throat. "I was under the influence and not myself." 

"Quiet, Smith." Nile shushed. "I want to hear what happened next." 

"So, pretty sure Mike was the one who dared Cap'n Eyebrows over here to pierce a part of his body. Now, Mike never specified which part of his body to pierce, but then this idiot yelled "Nipple piercing!" at the top of his lungs and it was all downhill from there." 

Hanji was dissolving into a fit of giggles while her poor husband was sinking a bit lower in his seat looking very embarrassed.

"Naturally, Hanji hears the word "piercing" and comes tackling his ass onto this tiny ass coffee table in Erwin's apartment. She ripped his shirt off and asked me to go get her a needle and a bucket of ice. Of course, I fucking did it because I wanted to see Erwin make the biggest mistake of his life--" 

"Some best friend you are." Erwin huffed, though it went unacknowledged by Levi who continued undeterred.

"Then, after Hanji had prepped the needle and was about to pierce Erwin's nipple, he chickened out not once, not twice, not three times but six fucking times before Hanji successfully pierced his nipple." 

"That's right!!" Hanji wheezed, wiping tears from her eyes. "He kept covering his nipples and sitting up from the table and telling me to 'Wait'. Wait for what?!" 

"Yeah, well, I guess you were only half-successful in the end, four-eyes. You only managed to pierce his left nipple." 

"Yes, well, that's enough of that story." laughed Erwin who looked about as embarrassed as anyone could get in this situation. 

Eren looked torn between laughter and feeling bad for laughing at Erwin's humiliation. Laughter won out in the end and he was soon wiping away tears of his own. 

"Nope. Not finished." Levi announced. "Then, the next day, Erwin refused to move from his spot on the couch because his nipple was so sore, any little movement he made put him in so much pain." 

"Wasn't he also jacked up on pain killers too?" Hanji asked, finally through with her laughing fit. "Pretty sure he was a little loopy and kept asking for his mom to make him soup." 

"That sounds like some shit Erwin would do." the raven nodded. 

"Maybe I should remind everyone here that Hanji gave Nile a mohawk when he chickened out of his piercing." Erwin supplied with a shit-eating grin. 

"Smith, that story is nothing exciting to tell and you know it." the lanky man sitting next to the blond sighed with a shake of his head. "Besides, I'm sure no one wants to hear about that." 

"Oh, I don't know, Dok." drawled Levi with a wicked smirk. "I'm a little interested now."

"Oh, oh! I'll tell it!" Hanji loudly volunteered. "See, after Erwin had told Nile about his nipple piercing, Nile wanted to get one too. So, being the gracious and kind human being that I am, I offered to do it for him and he agreed." 

"No shit." 

"We weren't even drunk, which is probably why Nile was able to talk his way out of letting me pierce his nipple. Instead, I gave him a mohawk." 

"That I regret getting to this day," Nile said with an awkward cough into his fist. "Marie gave me such an earful after that. She threatened not to marry me." 

"Well, thank goodness that threat was mostly an empty one. She married you a year to the day, I believe." Erwin chuckled, slapping Nile across the back in a friendly gesture.

"Yes, after I grew my hair out again. I think we can all agree that mohawk didn't suit me."

Hanji, Erwin and Levi all mumbled their own agreements and then the room fell silent. It wasn't an awkward silence, nor was it tense. Nile broke it when he inhaled deeply and released a very content sigh. 

"Well, I hate to leave good company but it is getting late. Marie won't be happy with me if I'm not home soon." He checked his watch and seemed to nod to himself. "Levi, Eren, thank you for a lovely dinner. We should do this again sometime when my wife isn't out of town." 

"It was our pleasure," Eren said with a smile as he reached for Levi's free hand that was resting on top of the table. He threaded their fingers together and the raven allowed him to. 

Nile's dark eyes stared at their linked hands for a moment before he looked down and laughed quietly, "You know," he said. "When you first told me you and Eren were engaged, I had my doubts-- don't take it the wrong way. I definitely don't have my doubts after tonight."

"Well, we're glad we could help put any of those doubts to rest, right, honey?" Eren nudged Levi's shoulder with his and the raven answered by disentangling their hands so he could wrap his arm around Eren's shoulders to pull him closer. 

Levi kissed his temple softly, "Of course." 

"Allow me to officially congratulate you both again. You've really found yourself a perfect partner, Levi. I don't think I've ever seen you this calm and happy in all the years we've worked together." Nile laughed. "But, this brings up something else I wanted to discuss with you two." 

Eren and Levi gave Nile their full attention while maintaining the closeness between them, which wasn't hard for Levi to do, considering he was drawn to Eren's warmth like a moth to a flame.

"Hanji had mentioned you were house hunting and I had suggested you call a close family friend of Marie and I. Her name is Cheryl and she helped Marie and I find our perfect home and we couldn't be happier. I mentioned earlier this week that I'd leave her number with you, Eren. But, I'm afraid I never got around to it." 

"Oh, well, that's alright." the brunet laughed, sounding a little nervous all of a sudden. Levi gave his shoulders a reassuring squeeze, his subtle way of telling his Assistant to calm down. 

"Anyway, since I'm already here, why don't I just leave her card with you and you can give her a call. I've already mentioned you both to her and she's excited to meet with you." Nile reached into the back pocket of his trousers and pulled out his wallet. A couple of seconds later, he was extracting a crisp business card and handing it across the table to Levi who plucked it from his fingers gingerly. 

"We'll give her a call tomorrow." the raven said, pocketing the card and taking over the conversation from there. 

"Wonderful! Well, I'll be taking my leave. Hanji, Erwin, it's always a pleasure to catch up with you two. Marie will probably be pestering you with details about your pregnancy soon, Hanji." 

"Oh, great!" the brunette chirped excitedly. "Marie is such a wonderful mother to your kids. I have so many questions for her." 

"And I'm sure she'll be happy to answer them." Standing from his seat, Nile smoothed down the front of his dark maroon button down and grabbed his blazer that had been hanging on the back of the chair. "Smith, we still need to go over those details from the last meeting with the Reeves company." 

"Of course, I'll call you to set up another meeting with our lawyers tomorrow." 

"Can you two go one evening without any shop talk?" Hanji sighed, but there was a hint of fondness in her tone.

Levi and Eren, being the hosts, walked Nile to the front door and Levi was all too happy to see the man finally leaving. Despite them avoiding a disaster tonight, Levi was still very drained and tired. He couldn't wait to get everyone the hell out of his apartment so he could finally just relax. 

"Goodnight, gentlemen. I hope my wife and I will be receiving an invite to your wedding soon." 

"O-Of course!" Eren startled. "I mean, we haven't set an exact date yet but we were thinking summer of next year." 

"That far off?" Nile asked, surprised. 

"Yes. It has to be summer." Levi interjected smoothly. "Summer is the time that reminds me of Eren the most." Reaching up, Levi ran a hand through Eren's soft hair resulting in the subtle hint of Strawberries and cream to hit his nose as he stared into his fake-fiance's stunning eyes.

Eren seemed both surprised and flustered by Levi's sudden romantic words, displayed obviously across his face as a light blush lit his cheeks. They were really selling this whole fake relationship and Nile was eating it up; which was a good thing, obviously, but for some reason, Levi still felt a pang of regret and sadness when he reminded himself that this was all just a very elaborate act. He almost had himself fooled.

"Well, Congratulations, again. Goodnight." 

Finally, Nile left and Levi was immediately dropping his act. He separated from Eren's side that he had practically been glued to since Nile's arrival and he sighed heavily, letting all his exhaustion be known. 

"I thought he would never fucking leave." he muttered, running a hand down his face.

"Levi." Eren called out quietly, prompting Levi to stop and look back at him. There was an odd sort of expression on his face, one that Levi couldn't quite place at the moment. 

"We should be going too, Levi." Erwin's voice interrupted as the blond and his wife joined them in the foyer. "We would love to stay but Hanji's feeling a bit nauseous."

"Please, take her home." the raven frowned. "I would much rather she vomit in her own toilet than mine." 

"Oh, hush, you. Just admit that you're worried about me, too." Hanji stepped forward and wrapped Levi up in her arms, intentionally pressing his face into her chest and essentially her breasts. 

"Damn it, Hanji." came Levi's muffled protests. "Let me go. I can't fucking breathe."

She complied with his orders, but not before she grabbed his face and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek that had Levi curling his lip up in disgust. 

"Love you, my little munchkin."

"Yeah, yeah. Get the hell out of my apartment before I kick you both out myself." 

Eren got his own hug and kiss from Hanji, though it was much less intense compared to the hug and kiss Levi got. Erwin had patted Eren on his shoulder and smiled at him before he was helping his wife put her coat and scarf on before doing so himself. 

Levi walked them out of his apartment into the hallway. More hugs and kisses on Hanji's part and a very tight side-hug from Erwin which earned him a halfhearted shove from the shorter raven before the couple were making their way to the elevators. 

"And be careful." Levi had called after them, just as they were stepping onto the elevators.

Sighing, he was finally able to retire into his living room, which is exactly what he did once he had shut and locked the front door. He could hear Eren cleaning up in the dining room, and as much as Levi would love to help him, he was just so tired. He would put enough faith in his Assistant for now, knowing Eren would hopefully be careful enough not to break or spill anything. 

Levi dragged his feet into the living room where he plopped down onto the sectional and ralled his head back while closing his eyes. This entire night had somehow been a success, but it had taken a lot out of him. He wasn't exactly sure how long he sat there with his eyes closed, but it must have been a while since Eren joined him on the sectional at some point. 

Feeling the slight dip in the cushions, grey eyes snapped open and Levi was once again made aware of the huge space that separated Eren and himself on the couch. The brunet was sat on the very opposite corner to Levi and there was just so much fucking space. He hated how he wished he could just close it, rest his head in Eren's lap while the brunet played with his hair until he fell asleep.

"Hey," he'd said, breaking the heavy silence that normally accompanied his apartment when he was alone. Eren didn't look up at him and Levi's eyes immediately latched onto the faint bruise he'd left on his neck earlier. "You look like you need to take a shit." 

"About that kiss earlier," Eren blurted out.

The raven switched from staring at the forming hicky on Eren's neck to staring at the confused and flushed expression on the brunet's face. He looked so damn conflicted. Had the kiss really effected him so badly? Did he regret it, now that everything was said and done and they longer needed to play the happy and stupidly in love couple in front of Nile?

Snapping his eyes away from the younger man's face, Levi stared down at his knees and just let that sinking feeling in his stomach hit him full force at the thought of Eren regretting that kiss. 

"I needed to do something to get Nile to believe our cover completely. Like you said, Making out in front of him seemed to be the last thing we could do in order to get him to believe us." 

"Oh," the younger man said, sounding slightly taken aback. "Yeah, no, I completely understand the reason behind it. I just, wanted to make sure that you had planned it. For a second, I was worried that maybe you'd drank too much wine or something." he laughed, but it sounded strained and awkward. 

"It takes more than four glasses of wine to get me drunk, Eren." 

"Right. Of course. I knew that."

Silence reigned dominant once more and Levi wondered if maybe he should apologize for leaving a hicky on his Assistant's neck when they never agreed on such a thing being necessary, but, why open up a new can of worms on a subject that has already more or less been closed for further discussion?

"How are we gonna get out of calling Cheryl?" Eren suddenly asked. 

Levi gave a tired sigh, "One problem at a time, Jaeger. Let's just celebrate tonight's victory before we go gallivanting into our next issue?" 

"Gallivanting?" he heard the brunet snort. "You've been watching too much Sherlock today." 

"Oh? So, if I offered to watch more tonight, you'd say no?" 

"... I never said that." 

"Hn, go get the wine from my kitchen. We're gonna watch the season finale." 

"Aye, aye, sir!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE ERERI MAKE OUT SCENE!! -EVIL LAUGH- Yeah, I thought you guys would like that. Just a little treat for those of you who have been loyally following this fic for the last few weeks since I started updating it again. 
> 
> Also, I hope it's clear enough for everyone in this chapter that Nile isn't some evil bad guy in the fic who's trying to prevent Eren and Levi from getting together. If anything, I think he secretly ships the ereri just like Hanji and Erwin do. He's actually trying to help, lmao.
> 
> Anyway, 15k fucking words!! I think this is only my second or third longest chapter I've ever written for a fic!


	14. Beautiful, Pretty Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> "_You sit there in your heartache waiting on some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways._"  
>  \- **The Killers**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I know it's been like two weeks since I last updated, but my life has been pretty busy! It's summer after all.  
> Anyway, I'm working on a couple of other non-fic related projects, one of which I'm preparing to enter into a writing contest a little later in the year, so, yeah.  
> Also, working on my own OC stories and things on the side, so there's that. 
> 
> I just really needed to update this fic though since the latest chapter of SnK fucking ruined me and I needed to write my OTP being stupid and in love. -sobs-

**Eren's POV**

Sunday morning, Eren found himself wide awake at a ungodly hour. It was still very dark outside, but the sounds of chirping birds and dogs barking in the distance alerted him to the fact that it was at least six. Way too early for him to be awake on a Sunday morning.

His eyes were still heavy and burning due to the lack of rest he got in the previous hours. He'd gotten home from Levi's apartment pretty late, thanks to the fact they both wanted to squeeze in as much Sherlock as they could. In the end, they only got up to the end of the first episode of season 2 before Eren was yawning and dozing off on Levi's couch. 

Surprisingly, Levi had offered Eren his couch for the night but the brunet had refused; that would have been way too intrusive for the both of them. It was bad enough what they had to endure the entire evening Nile was present, all the kissing and touching and then... there was _one_ specific kiss that just wouldn't leave Eren alone for the life of him. 

Just thinking about the way Levi had suddenly approached him with eyes hungry for his lips and then he'd been pinned against that counter top with no chance of escape. Well, it wasn't like he really _wanted_ to escape from such a fiery and passionate kiss in the first place. Sure, Eren had been surprised as all hell when Levi had first started attacking his mouth with ravenous kisses, but after the initial shock of the action itself was over with, how could Eren _not_ kiss the man back?

It was hot and desperate and all kinds of burning, to the point where Eren could still taste the wine on Levi's tongue long after the kiss had ended, as though he'd had the taste imprinted onto his taste buds. Not that it was a bad thing, at all. He quite liked the taste of Levi and loved the way he just took control of the situation that was just so signature of the man he'd come to know in the office.

Still... the hickey had been a surprise. Eren felt his face grow extremely hot at the memory of Levi's hot, searching mouth aggressively attacking his pulse point along with a warm, wet tongue that laved over the stinging nips and bites of teeth soothing the little prickles of pain that followed the action. 

He hadn't meant to get so caught up in the moment, but he had, and he was lucky he hadn't embarrassed himself in front of his boss by moaning, although he knew he came pretty close. 

Sighing heavily into the darkness of his bedroom, Eren shifted around under his bed sheets and raised a hand so that his warm fingertips traced over his pulse point. Immediately, his skin prickled with goosebumps and a shiver ran down his spine at the memory of Levi's mouth marking him. 

Granted, Eren hadn't been made aware of the hickey until after he got home and saw the forming bruise in the mirror of his bathroom, and by then, it was a bit too late for him to question Levi about it. Actually, he had quite a lot of questions for Levi regarding that kiss; questions that he'd wanted to ask while they were discussing it on the couch, but for once, he found he just didn't have the courage to do it. 

Then, there was the flippant and casual way that Levi just brushed the whole incident off like it was no big deal. Like he didn't almost cause his Assistant to sport a semi by sucking and licking on one of Eren's most sensitive areas, but, well, he supposed Levi couldn't have possibly known that.

Of course Eren understood the reasons for _why_ Levi did what he did, and of course, it wasn't like he was expecting more to happen after that kiss, but for some reason, something about the way Levi just swept the issue under the carpet with the excuse that he'd done it to save their cover and fully convince Nile that they weren't lying about their 'Engagement' just didn't sit well with him. 

It made something stir in his chest uncomfortably at the thought of him being the only one who got something out of that kiss, his heart clenching and stomach sinking. What exactly was going through Levi's head during their time together? Eren just had to wonder.

Was he just counting down the minutes until he was free of Eren's presence once more? Did he dread all of the fake affectionate gestures Eren made in order to make their cover more believable? ... Did he feel anything at all when they kissed? Was he the only one who... No. 

Shaking his head furiously, Eren growled at himself quietly in frustration before he suddenly sat up and got out of bed. His bare feet slapped against the cool hardwood as he rushed into the bathroom and slammed his hand against the light switch blinding him momentarily with a bright artificial light. 

He squinted, cursed under his breath and then clumsily approached his sink where he gripped onto the edges of the porcelain like a lifeline, knuckles going white as he blinked and allowed his vision to adjust to the new lighting. 

Once his vision was back to normal, his eyes immediately latched onto the angry purple and red mark that had darkened significantly since he first saw it. It was still considerably small, just darker and much more eye-catching with it's fetching new color.

Eren saw the way his face flushed into the mirror as he angled his head and stared at the possessive mark on his neck. He drew out a long, low groan before he hung his head and halfheartedly turned the faucet on. 

After several cold splashes of water, Eren was more alert and calm as he threaded a hand through his hair, pushing his fringe up and out of his eyes and dampening his hair in the process. He'd eventually have to take a decent shower anyway, but this would have to do for now while he bides his time. Maybe he'd make himself some coffee.

Eren went about his usual routine of making coffee, all the while, a particular box with very specific tapes and cassettes sat out on his coffee table, taunting him and tempting him. 

He'd only watched a couple of the VHS tapes and he still needed to find someplace that sold a damn cassette player in order for him to listen to the tapes, but so far what Eren had seen of Levi in his younger days, he was severely depressed. Truly, a broken shell of the person Eren had come to know these last couple of weeks. 

As his coffee maker gurgled to life, Eren leaned back against his counter top with his arms crossed over his bare chest. He stared at the box with that now familiar handwriting scrawled across the side and it's old duct tape hanging off from the flaps as well. Frowning, the brunet debated with himself on whether or not he should watch the last video tape or not. 

The last video tape, unlike the other two, was left blank; no labels anywhere to be seen, so as to what was on it, Eren could only wonder. He hoped it wasn't something weird or gross, like a sex tape. That would be awkward as all hell.

Shaking his head with an awkward chuckle, Eren decided there was probably no harm in watching the last tape now, if only just to prove himself wrong about it possibly being a sex tape. At least, that's what he told himself as he rummaged through the box's contents and pulled out the unlabeled video tape. 

In a familiar series of movements, Eren put the tape into the VCR and heard the little mechanical noises the ancient thing made as it rewound the film on the tape; the damn thing sounded like an airplane about to take off. When he heard his VCR fall silent, that told him that the tape was finished rewinding and he pressed play, waiting for the black screen to show some kind of picture or video.

It took quite awhile, and for a moment, Eren was worried that maybe the tape was just blank. He gave it a couple more minutes while waiting patiently on the couch, his legs curled underneath him and his arms wrapped tightly around himself. 

When he thought the tape was most certainly blank, he made a move to stand up from his spot on the couch but that was when the screen went fuzzy with static and then an image of Levi, Mike and half of Hanji's face in the camera's lens popped up and had Eren snorting a startled laugh.

 _"Is this thing recording?"_ that was unmistakably Hanji's voice as the brunette continued to fuss with the video recorder. _"I can't tell if Erwin's camera is recording or not! Levi, how do you work this thing!?"_

 _"Tch! Shitty glasses, you're hopeless."_ Eren didn't need to see Levi in the frame in order to guess the annoyed expression he must have been wearing if Hanji's head wasn't taking up most of the screen. It made him laugh quietly to himself as he realized that some things apparently hadn't changed very much between Hanji and Levi. 

_"Hey! It's not my fault Erwin bought this new fancy camera! I liked his old one better, I already knew how that one worked!"_

_"Move out of the way, imbecile."_

He watched as Hanji's face was suddenly out of the frame and a very young Levi was replacing her, although his face wasn't nearly as close to the lens as Hanji's had been. Eren took advantage of this and studied the differences between what he guessed was an eighteen-year-old Levi and the man he knew currently.

For starters, Levi was thinner back then, almost to the point where he was scrawny looking. He still had that signature crease between his eyebrows, which Eren guessed was just something that was part of Levi's face, although he sometimes very rarely saw when that crease smoothed out for just a moment or two. 

Eren noted the slightly longer and shaggier hair that Levi sported, which was a pleasant surprise, considering so far he'd only ever seen the raven with his famous off-center part and undercut. But, he also noticed the severe bags under the teenagers eyes, obvious proof of one too many sleepless nights.

As a young Levi fussed with the camera, the brunet ached at the absolutely harsh and guarded look in his grey eyes. It was nothing compared to the guarded look in Levi's eyes now, which in Eren's opinion was just a ghost of a reflection of this particular look. These eyes did not glint mischievously and they certainly weren't the stunningly odd clear shade that sometimes startled Eren when the light hit Levi's eyes just right. These eyes were dark and clouded with so many doubts and fears that Eren could practically read every single one. 

He swallowed past a forming lump in his throat as best he could and tried to shake off the impending feeling of dread that was knotting up in the pit of his stomach; a feeling he had become familiar with whenever he watched a new video of his boss as a young and scared teenager, which is exactly what he saw now.

_" Hanji, you're an idiot. It's been recording this entire time." _

_" What!? Uh-uh! It didn't show that it was recording though!" _

_" Look, dummy. The red light's blinking. You probably just wasted a fuck ton of tape while you were trying to figure this shit out." _

_" No worries! Erwin says this baby can record up to eight hours of video or something so I think we're good!" _

Eren watched as Levi walked back over to the two guitars propped up on the stands, a slender arm picked up the acoustic one first. Hanji was their bassist but had seen a couple of occasions where she had played guitar while Levi just sang. 

Mike was on drums, as usual, looking quite different without his facial hair. In an earlier video tape session, Eren had noticed the way Levi and Mike eyed each other during specific songs. It wasn't hard to understand how the two ended up dating, but it still made something ugly twist in his gut at the thought of Levi with someone else.

 _"Let's warm up a bit before we start."_ Levi instructed. He plucked a string or two on his guitar before he started up a slow tune. Mike and Hanji easily followed his lead as Levi sang a few versus to a couple of different songs.

Occasionally, Hanji was able to wrangle Levi into singing some cover of a backstreet boy's song and those were probably Eren's favorite parts from these tapes so far, but they were rare.

Suddenly, Levi sat up straighter on his stool and announced, _"No Name performing Jesus Christ."_

Eren did the same and adjusted himself more comfortably in his seat. During the band's warm up songs, he'd gotten up and poured himself a cup of coffee which was already gone by now.

[ **(X)**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDzUV5f2_-4)Levi switched to his electric guitar and plugged the wire into the small amplifier by his feet. Eren heard the feedback of the amp when Levi adjusted his fingers on the neck of his guitar causing them to brush against some of the steel strings.

'♪ Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face  
The kind you'd find on someone I could save  
If they don't put me away, well, it'll be a miracle ♪'

'♪ Do you believe you're missing out? That everything good is happening somewhere else  
But with nobody in your bed, the night's hard to get through  
And I will die all alone...  
And when I arrive, I won't know anyone ♪'

'♪ Well, Jesus Christ, I'm alone again  
So what did you do those three days you were dead?  
'Cuz this problem is gonna last more than the weekend ♪'

'♪ Jesus Christ, I'm not scared to die but I'm a little bit scared of what comes after  
Do I get the gold chariot? Do I float through the ceiling?  
Do I divide and pull apart?  
'Cuz my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark  
And this ship went down in sight of land  
And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands? ♪'

Eren felt his blood run cold and his heart break at Levi's lyrics because out of all the songs he'd heard him sing, this song was by far the darkest. It was like Levi was narrating how he contemplated his own death and it was _painful_ to sit there and listen and not be able to _do_ anything about it. In that moment, Eren had never seen Levi look more like the scared young man he must have been during that time and he had dealt with all of this _alone_.

It was the feelings of helplessness and heartbreak that eventually pushed Eren to tears but he bit his lower lip and fought them back in anger. Crying over something that happened literally years ago wasn't helping anyone, especially not Levi, but it still didn't stop his heart from hurting.

'♪ I know you're coming in the night like a thief  
But I've had some time alone to hone my lying technique  
And I know you think that I'm someone you can trust  
But I'm scared I'll get scared and I swear I'll try to nail you back up  
So, do you think that we could work out a sign?  
So, I'll know it's you and that it's over so I won't even try  
I know you're coming for the people like me  
But we all got wood and nails and tongue-tied at hate factories  
We all got wood and nails and tongue-tied at hate factories  
We all got wood and nails and we sleep inside of this machine ♪'

Pausing the video, Eren couldn't help but get angry at the way his hand slightly shook when he lifted to point the remote at the screen. He was shaken up and just a mess of emotions right now that no words could possibly describe what he was feeling.

Shock, perhaps? Anger, sadness, regret? He was so tired of feeling so god damn useless when it came to Levi's depression. 

Sure, it was obvious that Levi had outgrown most of his issues seen very clearly here in these old video tapes, but depression and guilt that ran so deep didn't just disappear. Maybe it had lessened over the years, but Eren was fairly positive that Levi still felt the same way he did about himself then and that thought scared him. 

He wiped away the tears from his eyes and his jaw set in determination. Eren decided right then and there that he was going to stop mourning for Levi's past self and start _helping_ the present Levi as best he could.

He had made a promise to Hanji and sitting in his apartment alone in the dark while crying over these video tapes was not going to help. He needed to go see Levi today, no matter what.

\- X -

**Levi's POV**

Sunday afternoon, Levi was letting a flustered looking Eren into his apartment. The brunet had barely made eye contact with him as he entered and toed off his boots. It wasn't until he followed Levi into the living room that the raven could see the darkening bruise on the side of Eren's neck, right over his pulse point. 

"Is it that noticeable?" his Assistant asked worriedly. "I wasn't sure if I should try covering it up or not." 

Grey eyes were glued to the pretty little purple mark that contrasted beautifully against Eren's golden skin. Levi could almost swear that he'd never seen anything more satisfying in his all his thirty-two years of life on this earth; it filled his chest with a twisted sort of pride and possessiveness he knew he had absolutely no right to feel, considering his relationship with Eren wasn't even real. 

"Leave it," He said. This earned him a confused stare from the brunet who had his mouth open as if ready to protest. "It'll help make our cover more believable at the office tomorrow."

Levi watched as Eren closed his mouth, opened it once more before finally closing it again and gnawing on his bottom lip in deep thought. 

"I guess you have a point..." he mumbled to himself. "But what about you? Wouldn't it be weird that I have a hickey and you don't?" 

The raven scoffed while crossing his arms over his chest, "In case you've forgotten, my neck is covered more than half the time while at work anyway thanks to my tattoos." 

"Oh," Eren flushed. "Right. Sorry."

"But," Levi continued, a smirk slowly curling his lips as he regarded Eren with hooded eyes. "If you're still worried about the hickey, feel free to even the score. I won't stop you." 

The blush on Eren's face darkened and he pouted at Levi, giving the older man a very petulant look.

"Ass." he grumbled and Levi huffed a quiet laugh. 

"So I've been called." 

Suddenly, Eren drew himself up to his full height and lifted his head up in a show of false confidence, "Whatever, I'm here to pick up my stuff. I'm sure you're just itching to put your apartment back to the way it was and get my things out of your way." 

Levi watched as his Assistant walk over to the small coat closet in the hallway where he had stored the box that Eren had brought most of his things in. The brunet brought it out and set it on the coffee table before he was pausing to stare up at Levi and raise a questioning eyebrow at him. 

"Actually," Levi started. "I was thinking you should just pack up the picture frames in the box but leave them here. Don't ask me why, but I have a feeling we'll be needing them again." 

"Shit," Eren cursed. "That's actually not a bad idea. If we do need to entertain Nile and his Wife, it would save me the trouble of having to move all my stuff in again." 

"Exactly. Let's not have a repeat of that pain in the ass task." 

"Okay, so, should I pack up the stuff you bought for me? Like, the slippers, the toothbrush and the bathrobe?"

Levi nodded, "Yes. They're brand new. We'll just pack them up with the pictures." 

"What about my books and movies?" Eren asked, then he seemed to think of something. "Forget it. I don't mind leaving them here, that is if you don't mind keeping them for awhile." 

"I don't mind. Leave them." 

Levi heard the younger man snicker, "You just want to finish watching Sherlock, don't you?" 

"Shut up."

They fell into a comfortable silence as they both worked together to gather the picture frames that decorated the coffee table and the mantel and then Eren went and retrieved his toiletries packing them away in the box as well. 

Together, they managed to pack everything up in about a half hour and it was only noon. They took a break from packing up and stood in the kitchen drinking tea and coffee. There was no unnecessary conversation between them as they just sort of quietly basked in the other's company. 

Occasionally they would lock eyes, stare for a bit and then Eren would smile and look down into his coffee mug. Levi would in turn hide a small smile behind his own mug; his eyes would still frequently trail back to the bruise on the younger man's neck and Levi silently wished he had been able to sneak another one before Nile had to interrupt them. 

Grey eyes latched onto the unmarked strip of sun-kissed skin that ran down the middle of Eren's throat and down to his collar bones. It was quite literally uncharted territory for the Raven who had only managed to mark the brunet's pulse point; perhaps the throat would have been a better and more obvious spot.

To think, just last night Levi had his Assistant pinned against the very counter top he was currently leaning against and he just couldn't forget the tang of the wine on his tongue, the taste of salty skin as he sucked that mark onto his neck, the way Eren had gripped onto the back of his sweater and said his name in a shuttered whisper. 

The memory kept Levi awake hours after the younger man had left his apartment and it had him wondering about many things. Like, how he had let this brat force his way past the thick walls he'd built around himself for so many years and claim a space for himself in Levi's heart like it had his fucking name on it. Whatever he was feeling for Eren, whether it was lust or love, Levi knew one thing for sure... he definitely cared for the kid and that wasn't about to change anytime soon.

He was never any good with dealing with his own emotions and feelings. So, spending hours on end trying to decipher these mysterious feelings for his Assistant only managed to give him a headache and more questions than answers. But, at the end of the day, Levi knew he was better off not knowing what these feelings were. He'd probably only end up fucking shit up, like he always did. 

"So, I learned something interesting about you last night." Eren said, suddenly shaking Levi from his tangled web of thoughts.

"I would think you learned more than just one thing about me last night." the older man snorted softly. "But, I guess I'll humor you. What did you learn about me last night?" 

"Your birthday is coming up in two weeks." was the brunet's smug reply. "Christmas Day to be exact." 

"Fucking Hanji." Levi cursed under his breath.

"Actually, it was Erwin who told me." 

"Erwin? When the fuck were you and Erwin alone long enough to even talk without Hanji or me in the same room?" 

"It was right before Nile got here, you were hunting Hanji down after she went missing so you could throw the condoms she brought out in the trash." the younger man informed him helpfully. 

Levi sucked his teeth softly, "So, Hanji's to blame by proxy." 

"Sure, I guess you could put it that way." Eren chuckled. "But why didn't you tell me your birthday was coming up? I've worked for you for almost three years and I've never known when your birthday was." 

"That's because I make it a point not to fucking tell anyone when my birthday is." 

"But why?" The brunet pushed. Levi gave a frustrated sigh, but Eren wasn't backing down. 

He held Levi's stare with a determined one of his own and the raven knew he was beat. The man had learned that once Eren wanted something badly enough, he'd do absolutely everything in his power to get it. 

"Because," he started quietly. "Nothing good ever happens on my birthday. To me, it's not something to celebrate." 

Eren was silent and Levi didn't want to chance looking up at him to see the idiot giving him those big, sad puppy dog eyes like how he did that night in Germany when he'd opened up to him about Isabel and Farlan for the first time. He didn't think he could handle it if Eren started to pity him the way everyone else seemed to.

Sighing, he set his mug down on the counter top and leaned back on his hands. He settled on staring out the window at the end of the hallway instead as he figured he may as well come clean about the real reasons for why he hated celebrating his birthday. Eren was going to ask anyway. 

"People find out about my birthday being on Christmas Day and they immediately assume I hate my birthday because it falls on one of the biggest holidays of the year, but the truth is, I hate my birthday because something bad always seems to happen around the same time." 

"You mean Isabel and Farlan?" he heard Eren bravely ask, although his voice was soft as he said the two names that still made Levi's heart ache painfully. 

The raven shrugged his shoulder halfheartedly, "Isabel and Farlan, my mom, my uncle. As a kid I spent too many birthdays sad or angry about something and being an Orphan only made it all the more pointless. So when Christmas rolls around, I do my best to forget the fact that it's also my birthday and I treat it like any other day." 

"Levi, I'm sor--" 

"What did I say about feeling sorry for me, Jaeger." he said in a sharp tone, effectively cutting off what Eren was about to say. "I'm not telling you this shit to gain your sympathy or your pity. I'm telling you all this crap because this is me _trusting_ you to understand. So, if I hear you say 'I'm sorry', I promise I'll make you regret it." 

Their eyes finally met and Eren was giving him a peeved look, "You don't always have to act so tough, you know. Everyone needs a hug or a shoulder to cry on. It's what makes us human, Levi." 

"Well, I don't." The raven spat back, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. "I'm a grown ass adult. I can deal with my problems on my own."

Levi watched as Eren's peeved look suddenly turned impish and he flashed him a mischievous smile while stepping closer and closer to him. He could already feel his heart beginning to race as he anticipated the warm embrace that was coming. Still, it wouldn't be in Levi's nature not to at least _try_ and discourage Eren from hugging him with some halfhearted threats, despite the fact that his body was craving the brunet's warmth while drowning in his comforting scent.

"Don't even fucking think about it, Jaeger." he warned, although it was definitely not as hostile sounding as it would be if he _really, really_ didn't want it. "I won't hesitate to hurt you, Eren." 

Ignoring his halfhearted threats, Eren finally closed the distance and wrapped his long arms around Levi's upper body. This caused both of their chests to press flush against one another's and the older man got a face full of Eren's collar bones while the brunet rested his chin on the crown of Levi's head. 

His body had stiffened at the first initial contact, but once his brain registered the incredible warmth and his nose filled with the familiar smell of Cinnamon and maybe a hint of vanilla, Levi slowly relaxed his tense muscles and gave up. This was inevitable and he'd be a damned liar if he said he didn't want this.

"There, there." cooed Eren in an exaggerated baby voice that made Levi groan into the material of his t-shirt. "Just accept the hug. Don't try and fight it. I'll only end up wearing you down anyway." 

The older man grunted out what he hoped was an indignant noise, but by the sound of Eren's laugh he didn't quite accomplish that. Well, Eren did have a point; the little brat was stubborn as a mule and probably wouldn't have left Levi alone if he had tried to fight off the hug. 

So, he did as he was told and simply accepted his fate to be hugged. He felt his fingers twitch at his sides and Levi wondered if he'd be able to get away with hugging his Assistant back without making it seem weird or creepy. Slowly, he lifted both of his arms and hesitantly moved them to wrap around Eren's strong back. 

It was a light embrace at best but Levi would never claim to be good with showing this kind of physical affection. He'd always been very awkward about hugs and other affectionate actions, even when he'd been in a relationship with Mike. The big blond idiot had been huge on cuddling and it took Levi a long time to get used to that, but in the end he never really did. 

This, however, felt different. Levi didn't feel awkward about the way he let his fingers grip some of the material at the back of Eren's shirt, or about the way his fingertips gently dug into the younger man's shoulder blades as they slightly shifted. The warmth that enveloped him just made the action that much easier since Levi's body craved more of it and soon, he was hugging Eren back and just letting himself be almost absorbed into the bigger body that was practically swallowing him up.

"See?" Eren said softly, though it sounded loud from where Levi's ear was pressed against the brunet's chest. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" 

"... Shut up." 

He couldn't stop the little smile that curled the corners of his mouth as he heard Eren laugh quietly. He was just glad the brunet couldn't see it because it was probably a stupid thing to smile over. The ironic thing was, this time it was Levi who was pressed back against the counter top while Eren held him close. 

"I'm not going to try and lecture you about how unhealthy it is to keep all your feelings bottled up, but, I just want you to know something. Promise not to punch me in the stomach, okay?" When Levi didn't promise him right away, Eren tried again by squeezing him tightly. "Promise?" 

"Tch, fine." Levi growled through a grunt. "I promise not to punch you in the fucking stomach." came Levi's slightly wheezed response. Eren immediately stopped squeezing him .

"... I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need anything. I know that sounds so cliche because everyone says that without really meaning it, but I really do mean it, Levi. I want to be someone you know you can trust to talk to whenever things get to be too much for you." 

As Levi listened to Eren's voice reverberate in his chest, he felt his cheeks flame with heat. Suddenly, it was hard to swallow and he hadn't noticed when the grip he had on the back of Eren's shirt tightened just the tiniest bit. He felt strange and a bit awkward hearing such earnest and honest words from his Assistant of all people, someone he thought for sure loathed him for all the shit he put him through all these years. 

Yet, here they were standing in the middle of Levi's kitchen hugging like a couple of saps while Eren not so subtly asked if Levi would allow him into his heart further; to _trust_ him with all his skeletons and emotional baggage he carried with him every second of every day. 

And the funny thing was, he didn't hate this. Hearing Eren tell him something that most people say with empty meanings just made Levi want to blindly believe him just because he knew the idiot was just so damn _honest_ about everything. From the way he spoke about his friends and family to the way his expressions left him so easy to read like an open book. Eren was anything but fake and dishonest and Levi felt something inside himself break a little at this realization. 

Tiredly, he sagged against Eren's taller form and turned his face so that his forehead was resting against Eren's collar bones and his nose was buried in the soft material of his t-shirt. 

Levi took a deep breath and inhaled the scent he'd become so fond of over the last few days-- a smell that reminded him of 'Home' despite never really having one. 

Maybe that was it; Eren reminded him of 'Home'. A concept Levi's only ever heard about but has never really had for himself. Isabel and Farlan were the closest things to home Levi had ever had but even what he felt when he was with them couldn't totally compare to the sense of security and warmth he felt when Eren was with him. 

And it sounded crazy, he knew it did, but somehow his clumsy, hot-headed Assistant of the last two and half years turned into a sort of safe haven from all his demons and shadows. When he spent time with Eren, whether it was when they were surrounded by other people or just the two of them alone, he didn't feel the desire to just disappear. He was here, he was alive and Eren was with him and maybe that's all that mattered?

"Levi?" Eren called softly. A hint of concern in his voice when he took longer than necessary to answer him.

Said man took a shaky breath in before he quietly let it out in a tiny sigh. 

"I'll try," he finally said, and that was the most he could promise. It was the only thing he could really say at this point. "I'll try not to bottle up so much, but I can't guarantee anything." Levi took a moment to swallow thickly before he continued. "I've spent most of my life convincing myself that I'm the only person I can rely on in the end. That kind of thinking... you can't just change it overnight, you know." 

"I know," he felt Eren sigh into his hair and it made him shiver a little. "I'm not asking you to change. Just, confide in me a little. I'll try to help as best as I can." 

He didn't think it was possible, but Levi sagged a little more in Eren's arms and stopped trying to resist so much. It was foolish of him to think that he could get away with his usual facade in front of Eren at this point; he'd seen him before and after one of his more intense attacks in Germany and he hadn't judged him, simply reassured him and gave him his space. 

A tiny shiver ran up his spine when he felt Eren's warm fingertips trace a line down his spine and it forced a quiet little sigh of pleasure from his lips that must have tickled Eren's skin because he heard the brunet snort a soft laugh into his hair which caused Levi's lips to twitch as he closed his eyes and just bathed in Eren's presence all around him.

"Um, Levi...?" he heard the brunet whisper hesitantly. 

"What?" the raven murmured back. 

"What are we going to do about Cheryl?" 

Levi took a slow, deliberate breath in and let it out in a heavy sigh.

\- X -

With the new week brought new problems for Levi and Eren as they realized they had a couple of new troublesome situations to deal with now.

The first pressing issue was that they would need to come up with a plan that would help convince the rest of their co-workers that they were living together, which meant they would have to start coming into work together. 

The issue had been brought up on Monday morning when Eld had approached Eren and asked why he and Levi were still showing up to the office at different times if the couple were already living together. 

Surprisingly, Eren had come up with a smooth lie about how they just didn't want to let the rest of the office know about their living situation since their engagement was still new and some people might not be comfortable with it still. To say that Levi had been impressed would be an understatement. 

Still, this resulted in Levi and Eren once again going out of their way in order to save their cover, meaning come Tuesday morning and all the following mornings, Levi would send one of his fancy town cars to pick Eren up from his apartment in order to drive the brunet across town to Levi's apartment so the two men could walk to the office together. 

It was a lot of work and Eren had not been happy about waking up an extra half hour earlier just so he could be ready in time for Levi's car service to pick him up, but the raven had managed to bribe him with the promise of buying him lunch every work day until this whole fake engagement thing was over with. 

If there was one thing Levi had come to learn about Eren in the past couple of weeks of being fake engaged to him, it was that Eren was a major foodie who could be convinced to do almost anything with the promise of good food and drink. It made things so much easier on Levi since he could definitely afford to splurge on buying Eren lunch everyday, compared to say buying five thousand dollar engagement bands.

Thursday morning rolled around and the couple walked out of the elevator onto the 23rd floor side by side. They were engaged in casual conversation fully distracting Levi for a full minute before they strolled past the bull pen together and Levi was forced to come to an abrupt halt when a child ran past him giggling loudly. 

"What the fuck?" he cursed silently under his breath as he took a moment to scan his grey eyes over the entirety of his floor. There were children of varying ages absolutely everywhere and Levi was immediately frowning. "Why are there... _children_ on my floor?" 

"It's 'Bring your Kid to work' Day. I told you about it yesterday." Eren murmured quietly to him. "Weren't you listening?" 

"I don't remember you telling me about that." Levi said defensively. "You probably thought you told me and actually forgot." 

"Oh, no." the brunet scolded. "Uh-uh, don't try to pull that reverse psychology shit on me. I specifically told you that today was 'Bring your Kid to work Day' and you hummed and nodded your head and then I told you to be on your best behavior because there was going to be kids here today and you said 'Yeah, okay. What do you want for lunch?' and then I told you no cussing was allowed--" 

"Alright, fine, I fucking get it." the raven growled in frustration. 

"Strike one." Eren frowned. "What did I _literally_ just finish telling you?" 

"Tch, this is _my_ office. I'm in charge of running it and no one is going to censor me from cussing. Erwin tried, Nile tried, obviously they both failed because I'm still cussing up a storm whenever the fuck I feel like it." Levi met Eren's eyes with a challenging glare of his own and the brunet narrowed his. 

"Fine," the younger man relented, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning in disapproval. "We'll see how that goes over with the rest of the workers here when their kids start picking up your terrible habit of using the word 'Fuck' as a filler in every other sentence." 

"Like I care," Levi scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "These kids are gonna grow up to cuss anyway. It's inevitable."

He heard his Assistant sigh and before watching as he massaged his temples, clearly getting a bit frustrated with Levi's stubborn views on cursing around children. 

"That's not really the point, Levi." Eren stressed with a very unimpressed look at his boss.

"Then what is the point, _Eren_." the older man challenged. "You know it's the truth, so why are you trying to change my mind?"

"Okay. Imagine a five-year-old running around saying 'Fuck' or 'Shit' or 'Damn it'. Doesn't that image bother you at all?" 

"No." Levi said flatly. "I think that would be fucking hilarious." 

Eren gave a sarcastic laugh, "Oh, ha-ha. Of course you would." Then he seemed to have finally reached his limit for tolerating anymore of Levi's twisted morals, or lack there of. "Whatever! Do what you want. I give up." 

"Glad you finally saw it my way." 

Without so much as another word, Levi briskly made his way toward his office, occasionally having to stop and skirt around more children that darted past him or just seemed to stand in the center aisle wandering. Eren ended up staying behind at some point when he decided he needed to help any lost child he saw find their parents. 

Meanwhile, Levi did his best to quickly hurry into his office so he could lock himself inside and not come out again until lunch time. Children were not his forte and he'd proven it several times through out his life. He would simply do everything in his power to avoid having to deal with any children today, which would probably be easier said than done.

He saw his office door coming into view and Levi let out a small sigh of relief when he realized he was almost home free. His pace quickened as he closed the distance from himself and the door and he lifted his hand to reach for the handle. 

"Annabelle, get back here!" someone called from behind him. Suddenly, as he placed his hand on the door handle, Levi felt a light tug on the back of his black trench coat. 

He froze and slowly craned his neck to look down at his side where a small blonde haired girl was holding onto the bottom of his trench coat with her tiny little hand and staring up at him with big, golden brown eyes. 

The two had a bit of a stare off as Levi waited for the child to release his coat or _something_ but instead she just continued to stare up at him making Levi extremely uncomfortable. 

"Annabelle," Eld finally approached looking tired and out of breath. "Don't run off like that, sweetie. You almost gave me a heart attack." 

The blond was about to lean forward and scoop the girl up in his arms, much to Levi's relief, when she suddenly pointed one of her tiny little fingers up at the raven who raised an eyebrow at her. 

"Are you my daddy's boss?" her little voice asked, big eyes sparkling with all kinds of childlike wonder and curiosity. 

"Sweetie," Eld chuckled nervously. "Let's not bother Mr. Ackerman, okay? He's very busy." The blond met Levi's gaze with a sheepish expression as he finally scooped the tiny girl up in his arms, but she continued to stare at him. "Sorry about this, Boss. My wife insisted I bring our daughter in today and-- well, I'll make sure she doesn't bother you." 

"I wasn't aware you had kids, Jinn. Let alone that you were married." Levi admitted, fishing around in his pocket for his keys to unlock his office door. 

"Ah, yes, sir. I've been married for five years-- going on six in January."

"Huh," Levi voiced his surprise. "You've been working for me for how long, now?" 

"Uh... five years, sir?" 

"Right... well, it's probably pointless now but, Congratulations." 

Eld stared at Levi in shock as the raven continued to fish around in his pocket until he finally received his keys and started unlocking his office door. Then, the blond gave a startled laugh and smiled widely. 

"Thank you, Mr. Ackerman." 

Said man grunted in affirmation before turning to finally-- finally! -- let himself into his office where he shut the door behind him and sighed heavily. Not even twenty minutes since he arrived at the office and he was already wishing the work day would end so he could go home and curl up on his couch with a glass of wine or maybe a glass of whiskey.

After taking a moment to collect himself, Levi finally removed his coat and set his briefcase down on top of his desk. He realized the blinds to his office were still closed, but he figured it was probably safer for him to keep them drawn shut. It meant he wouldn't have to deal with anyone seeing that he was holed up in his office and would prevent everyone from coming in to bug him. 

Any other day he wouldn't care if someone needed to come into his office and bother him with pointless or dumb shit, but today, he'd prefer if no one tried coming in to talk to him with one of their snot-nosed little brats hanging around them. The last thing he needed was some kid putting their grubby little hands on any of his things and leaving behind smudges and finger prints. 

Thankfully, Levi managed to get away with about half an hour's worth of time to quietly get his things set up for another day at work in Smith & Dok Advertising. He looked through some mock ups left by his small creative team which consisted of Eld, Gunther and Oluo. 

It only seemed to remind him that had he gotten the promotion to Director of Creative Affairs, he probably would be overseeing the ad for the Reeves company that _he_ pitched at the meeting last month. But instead, he was stuck in his office overseeing a different and less expensive project. It only served to put him in a rather sour mood as he flipped through page after page of mock up drawings and started calling clients to set up meetings with.

At some point, while he was on a call with a client, Eren had slipped into his office and taken a seat in one of the leather chairs on the other side of his desk. Grey eyes watched the brunet as he doodled on a sticky note, his thick eyebrows pinched together in intense concentration. 

"Yes, I understand." Levi absently spoke as he grabbed a pen from his desk and tossed it at his Assistant to gain his attention. 

The pen hit Eren's chest and landed in his lap where he was doodling on a neon yellow sticky note. Teal eyes flickered up to meet his gaze and Levi saw the look of fond annoyance that flashed through those bright eyes as Eren picked the pen up and set it back neatly on top of Levi's desk. 

"Absolutely. Of course. I'll set the meeting up for 9:15 a.m., then." 

He jerked his chin in the direction of the note pad still hidden in Eren's lap and the brunet smiled widely at him as he plucked the sticky note off the pad and turned it around to show it to Levi.

It was a rather childish stick figure drawing of Levi with a frowny face and his name out in bold black ink over the figure spelling out ' **L E V I** '. 

The brunet laughed quietly before he leaned forward in his seat and stuck the sticky note on the back of Levi's free hand. He seemed to be getting a kick out of teasing his boss while Levi was unable to criticize him about his mental age, which the raven would have if he weren't on this damn phone call. 

"Yes, of course. We'll see you then." 

Finally, when he was free of that annoyingly droll phone call, he grabbed the sticky note stuck to the back of his right hand and took a moment to study it. 

"Pretty good, right? I think I'm the next Van Gogh." Eren preened with a smug grin. 

Levi snorted and rolled his eyes before he crumpled up the sticky note and threw it at Eren's head with terrifying accuracy. The yellow paper bounced off his forehead and fell in his lap causing Eren to gasp dramatically. 

"Hey! I worked hard on this!" 

"Oh, yes. I can clearly see the hours and hours you spent capturing me just right in that little doodle of yours." was Levi's sarcastic reply. 

He watched as the brunet unwrapped the little ball of paper and begin to smooth it out on the edge of his desk while he pouted petulantly, and damn it, Levi was really starting to like that expression for all the wrong reasons. 

"... I thought it was pretty accurate." he heard Eren mumble quietly under his breath. 

"Are the brats still running around my office?" Levi asked instead.

"Of course," his Assistant chuckled. "It's not even lunch time yet, Levi. They're going to be here all day until everyone goes home." 

The older man was immediately deflating at this new information,"Ugh, I wonder if Erwin would be willing to let me take a personal day." 

Eren's petulant pout suddenly turned into a teasing smirk as he straightened up in his seat.

"You've been taking a lot of those lately, huh?" 

Levi said nothing as he silently turned to face his computer. He knew what game Eren was trying to play and he was not about to give his Assistant the satisfaction of being sucked into it. The office stayed silent as Eren simply sat and stared at Levi with that smug expression on his face. 

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of a squeaky wheel in the distance. It started out faint, but slowly and gradually grew louder and louder until a rather large figure loomed in Levi's doorway prompting both himself and Eren to look up at the newest presence. 

There stood their buildings resident bagel guy, someone who's name Levi never knew despite the large man being a constant presence in the building. It was a rather comical sight, seeing this very tall man that easily passed up Mike in height and beat out Erwin and himself in terms of muscles pushing around a rather tiny cart of bagels and various other goods like newspapers and sometimes he delivered the mail. 

"What?" Levi grunted, clearly frustrated with the way bagel guy was just lingering in his doorway with his damn cart. 

Bagel guy patted the paper sign on the side of his cart that had the word **B A G E L S** written messily in a black sharpie and then pointed to the stick-on name tag over his hardened pectoral that read _'Hello, My name is: Bagel Guy'_ before shrugging his massive shoulder halfheartedly. 

"Good Morning, Teddy." Eren greeted with a wide smile. "No mail today?" 

'Teddy' smiled back at Eren before shaking his head and shrugging both shoulders up. Oh, and that was another thing, bagel guy was apparently a mute. Well, Levi wasn't actually 100% certain if 'Teddy' was mute, or that his name was even actually Teddy, but he did know for certain that the guy didn't speak; only grunted occasionally or nodded his head to answer someone's questions.

"How the fuck do you know his name is Teddy?" Levi scoffed. 

Eren gave him a very incredulous look before smiling back at Teddy who grinned wider at the brunet. 

"He told me, obviously." 

"How? He doesn't talk." 

"I asked him what his name was and he wrote it out for me." Eren huffed. "Everyone knows his name is Teddy. Everyone except you, apparently." 

"Shut up." the raven snapped, grey eyes snapping back to Teddy's large form. 

As if it wasn't bad enough that bagel guy was as weird as they come, in Levi's opinion, he looked a bit homeless as well. He had long messy hair that was normally pulled back into an even messier bun and his face was unshaven and scruffy as all hell. Grungy was the exact term Levi would use when describing bagel guy, but he'd heard several people in the office talking about the hunk that was the bagel guy.

"Why are you still here?" he asked, eyeing 'Teddy' suspiciously while the giant man stared at him owlishly and then turned his attention back to Eren. 

He jerked his chin toward the brunet as if asking him something. Realizing what 'Teddy' was trying to say, Eren snapped and gave a sheepish grin. 

"Oh, no. No bagel for me today, Thanks Teddy." 

Flashing one last lopsided grin at Eren, scruffy bagel guy nodded and then started to back out of Levi's doorway taking his cart and it's damn squeaky wheel with him. The raven watched as 'Teddy' back out toward the bull pen and heard rather than saw him making his way down the rest of the floor. 

At one point when he thought scruffy bagel guy was far enough, he and Eren heard a distinctively loud bang and then the sound of the cart's squeaky wheel taking on a particularly higher squeak as 'Teddy' reversed the cart and tried turning the corner without clipping it this time. 

Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes and Eren winced, staring out the open doorway from where he sat. 

"Hope Teddy didn't drop any of his bagels." he mumbled quietly, earning him Levi's very unimpressed glare. 

"You know, his name probably isn't even 'Teddy'. He could have just written down a random name and you'd never know any better." 

"Why do you keep insisting on being suspicious about Teddy?" the brunet sighed, raising a brow at his boss in obvious question. 

Levi snorted while leaning back in his seat, "In case you haven't noticed, Jaeger, the guy looks like he hasn't shaved or had a haircut since the day he was born."

Eren gave an affronted scoff, "So, because Teddy has long hair tied up in a man bun and doesn't shave makes him suspicious? You do realize that Eld has a man bun and facial hair, don't you?"

"Tch, that's not the same thing, Eren." 

"Yes, it is!" 

"Whatever," the raven sighed pinching the bridge of his nose and massaging it briefly. He didn't want to talk about 'Teddy' the bagel guy anymore. "Have you figured out what you wanna have for lunch later?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Eren sank back into his chair and pouted again. 

"You're changing the subject." the younger man grumbled. 

"Because the subject was irrelevant and I don't give a fuck." Grabbing a thin stack of papers from his desk, Levi straightened them and placed a paper clip to prevent the papers from scattering. "Now, what do you want for lunch? I'm buying, remember?"

\- X -

The day had just seemed to drag on endlessly for Levi, and it eventually got to the point where he got a little bored just being stuck in his own office. There was only so much he could do inside such a confined space, despite his office being pretty spacious with a rather great view of the city.

He'd gotten all of his work done quite unintentionally, which left Levi with nothing to two for the last couple of hours of work. This resulted in him taking a huge risk and peeking out of the drawn blinds in his office just to see what was going on outside of his office. Not wanting to be bothered or give himself away to any of the little demon spawns running around his floor, it was the first time Levi was looking out his blinds to assess the situation. 

Levi was rewarded with the sight of Eren at his desk leaning casually against it while standing up, a group of boys and girls of all varying ages huddled around him, one little red-headed girl sitting in his chair with his office phone in hand.

Eren had his arms crossed over his chest, the simple cream cardigan he wore into work that morning was no left casually unbuttoned to reveal his fitted button up shirt. At some point, he'd rolled up the sleeves of both his shirt and the cardigan, revealing his toned forearms and that damn sinful tan of his; nobody should be allowed to still be that fucking tan in the middle of fucking December.

He could hear muffled speech through the glass of his window, but for the most part, Levi was clueless as to what Eren was chatting to the group of kids about. The older man noticed the way some of the older girls swooned over Eren whenever he did, well, just about _anything_. (He had to scoff and roll his eyes a bit at the absolute ridiculousness of the whole scene.) Some of the boys in the group shied away from him or boldly asked him questions about who knew what, Levi could only guess.

Eren seemed to have a natural knack for kids, something Levi could almost admire in any other situation, maybe even envy. But right now, he was just envious because of the way one particular girl who was practically a teenager touched Eren's forearm whenever she wanted to get his attention. The girl asked Eren something and Levi tried to make out what it was by squinting and hopefully reading her lips but she was slightly turned away from him so his efforts of fingering the blinds open wider didn't help. 

"Uhm, Mr. Ackerman, sir?" a tiny voice quivered. 

Snapping his attention to his left, Levi saw Hanji's assistant Moblit standing in his doorway, hand still on the knob and one foot in the door. He looked mildly startled when Levi glared at him but Moblit had been Hanji's Assistant for so long that he was _mostly_ used to Levi's scowl.

"What?" he snapped in an irritable tone. 

The man squeaked fearfully before stumbling over his answer, "M-Miss Hanji wanted me to drop off these files. They need your signature on them." 

"Leave them on my desk. I'll get to them in a minute." he instructed firmly before returning his attention to Eren and his little herd of brats. "And leave the door cracked open on your way out." he tacked on as an after thought. 

Thankfully, Moblit was also used to following Levi's orders by now and he did exactly as he was told without so much as another peep as he left. With the door left open, Levi was able to make out whatever was being said between Eren and the brats. 

The girl, it seemed, hadn't succeeded in gaining Eren's attention just yet, but she continued to persistently touch and tap his forearm or one of his shoulders until Eren turned and acknowledged her. Levi felt the corners of his lips twitch into a frown but he did his best to listen. 

"Yes, Kayla?" he asked with a friendly smile.

"Eren, um, are you dating anyone?" he heard the girl's shy voice ask. 

"Oh, well," Levi watched as his Assistant got a little embarrassed, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck which Levi automatically knew was one of Eren's nervous habits. "I wouldn't say 'dating' but yes, I'm kind of involved with someone." 

"Oh..." the girl, Kayla, deflated but her crestfallen mood didn't last long as she seemed to immediately perk back up. "Is that a hickey from your girlfriend on your neck?" she giggled while pointing at his pulse point that was slightly hidden by the collar of his cardigan. 

"Um..." Eren's cheeks flushed and the group of kids all giggled and tittered at his expense. Levi felt pride swell in his chest and warmth spread through him as he saw the brunet's very flustered reaction to the hickey Levi left on him on Saturday night. It had faded mostly, but it was still noticeable in the right lighting or when Eren's neck was exposed.

Suddenly, bright teal eyes flashed up and caught Levi's gaze through the blinds startling Levi a bit to the point where he panicked a bit for being caught staring and pulled his hand away from the blinds. The things snapped noisily, to the point where Levi was sure nearly everyone on the whole fricking 23rd floor probably heard them and then he was stepping away from the window and forcing himself to deep, calming breaths because his heart was racing a mile a minute. 

He could feel his cheeks heating up and he hoped that he hadn't come off as creepy when Eren caught him staring, but with his luck that's probably exactly how he came off. He was a thirty-two (soon to be thirty-three) year old man who had just been caught staring at his younger Assistant surrounded by a bunch of little kids. Eren probably thought he was a total weirdo now. 

Growling quietly to himself, Levi placed his hand over his heart and gripped the fabric of his turtle neck while he braced himself against the edge of his desk and mentally smacked himself for humiliating himself like that. 

"Actually," Eren's distant voice filtered in through the crack in Levi's office door catching the older man's attention. "I'm engaged." 

Levi's eyes snapped open at Eren's admission, not expecting those particular words to be said after such an embarrassing moment. He had assumed Eren would be a bit grossed out with him, but from what he heard, the brunet didn't particularly sound disgusted or creeped out. He didn't call Levi a weirdo or a pervert, so there was that. 

At the sound of all the kids gasping and 'ooh'ing, Levi couldn't fight back the little smile that twitched the corners of his lips up as he straightened up from leaning against his desk. 

"What a pretty ring, Eren! The stone matches your eyes!" a girl exclaimed. 

"Thank you, Kayla." the brunet chuckled. "My Fiance Levi picked it out for me. Pretty, right?" 

That familiar warmth blossomed in his chest once more, replacing the mild anxiety that had taken it's place moments ago while Levi rounded his desk and plopped down in his chest. Distractedly, Levi grabbed the files that Moblit had left behind for him to sign and he absently flipped through them as he listened to the kids marveling at Eren's engagement ring. 

"Pretty..." Levi murmured to himself silently. _'Not nearly as pretty as you, though.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isayama is Satan.
> 
> A couple things to note in this chapter? 
> 
> \- It's 4:46 AM and I've been sitting here writing this chapter since 6:30 PM. I'M EXHAUSTED AND I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY TYPOS I MISSED.
> 
> \- I have been planning to have Levi sing **Jesus Christ by Brand New** since I first started this fic, which was a year ago, and it's a song that means a lot to me, so, yesh. 
> 
> \- Teddy is my wonderful Waifu Paula's adorkable OC who I just had to sneak in here despite not liking to put my own OCs in my fics. But, yeah, y'all might see him again in the future. He helps fill certain scenes when I run into a brick wall! Yay, Teddy! <333


	15. Chasing Your Pretty Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> _♪ There is no crime in being kind,_  
>  _Not everyone is out to screw you over_  
>  _Maybe, yeah, just maybe they just wanna get to know you_  
>  _And now the time is here, baby, you don't have to live your life in fear_ ♪
> 
>  
> 
> **Fear and Loathing - Marina and the Diamonds**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my defense, the reason I haven't updated or written anything lately is because my life has been ruined by a game series known as Dragon Age. So, yep. 
> 
> P.S. Blame my super cute (but super evil) Waifu, Paula, for getting me sucked into this abyss of precious characters. AND I ONLY JUST STARTED DA2. DEAR FUCK, HELP ME.

The following Monday, Hanji came bursting into Levi's office startling both Levi and Eren who had been going over the older man's schedule for the day. 

"Levi, Eren! I'm so glad I caught both of you!" 

The brunette rounded Levi's desk, nearly running over Eren who side-stepped just in time for Hanji to slam the palms of her hands down on the top of Levi's desk with a crazed look in her eyes and a wide, manic grin on her face. 

"Tch, what the fuck is it, you psycho? Haven't you ever heard of knocking? It's what normal human beings do before entering a room with a shut door." 

"No time for that right now!" she exclaimed, eyes going impossibly wide. "You and Eren have to go and meet with a HUGE potential client right now!" 

Levi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, "What?" 

Hanji groaned and rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Don't make me repeat myself, short stuff! You heard me the first time!" 

Leaning back in his seat, Levi threaded his fingers together in front of him and settled jaded grey eyes on the bouncing bubble of excitement that was Hanji who seemed impatient and irritated with him the longer he stayed silent. 

"You're right, four-eyes. I did hear what you said the first time." he paused, eyes flicking over to study Eren momentarily. His Assistant was scrolling through his phone, probably to see if he made any mistakes with any of Levi's meetings. "What I don't understand is why we have to go and meet with this "huge potential client" that I had no clue about in the first place. Eren, care to explain?" 

"Um, well," the younger man's expression went from pinched in concentration to slightly nervous as he finally looked up from his phone screen to meet Levi's penetrating gaze. "I don't have any meetings scheduled for you today, but, it's possible I made a mistake and just... forgot?" he flashed Levi a sheepish smile resulting in a heavy sigh from the older man. 

"No, no, no!" Hanji butted in with a furious shake of her head. "Eren didn't know about this client either. This client came straight from Nile himself and they asked for you and Eren specifically!" 

"Tch," Levi frowned. "This sounds suspicou--"

"No time!" Another slam of hands on his desktop and Levi was just about ready to tell Hanji to go fuck off. "The meeting's already been set up and the client is waiting at the cafe around the corner! You have to go, like, now!" 

"Damn it, Hanji." the raven growled, taking a moment to massage the bridge of his nose before he abruptly stood up from his chair. "Eren, get your coat. We're going to that meeting." 

"Got it!" 

While his assistant hurried out of his office, Levi rounded his desk and grabbed his own heavy black coat and scarf before slipping them on while Hanji leaned against his desk grinning. 

"Are you at least going to brief me about this client?" Levi asked while slipping on his leather gloves. 

Hanji's grin widened, not that Levi could see it from where he was standing but he didn't need to see it in order to hear how pleased his oldest friend was with herself in that moment. 

"Nope." she sang. "I don't really know much about them myself. I'm just the messenger." 

The raven snorted at that, "Remind me to shoot you, then." 

The brunette threw her head back in raucous laughter as Levi grabbed his briefcase from behind his desk. Just then, Eren popped his head back into his office. 

"Ready, boss." he announced with a little grin of his own. 

"Good. Let's get this over with."

\- X -

Levi and Eren walked into the small cafe, relishing in the warmth inside the building. Shrugging out of his coat, Levi looked around the cafe for any sign of their client. Hanji had given him little to nothing to go on and now that he was standing there, he realized he had no idea who the hell he was supposed to be looking for. 

"Yoohoo~!" a woman called from a corner table near a window. 

The two men looked over at her in unison and were met with the sweet and friendly face of an older woman with dark hair. Levi noted the way she flagged them over with one of her hands. 

Sharing a glance with one another, Levi and Eren made their way over to the older woman who greeted them both with a big, warm smile that reminded Levi of Carla's. In fact, everything about the way this woman acted reminded Levi a bit of Carla.

"Good Morning," Levi greeted with a curt nod. "I apologize if we are late. I wasn't made aware of this meeting until the last minute." 

"Oh, that's alright!" the woman laughed, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. Levi couldn't help but notice all the expensive jewelry on her fingers and how perfectly manicured her nails were. "It's not like I had an unpleasant time waiting for you two to arrive. The coffee here is fantastic. I've already had two cups!" 

"Good morning," Eren greeted next, a handsome but slightly sheepish smile on his face as he and Levi took their seats next to one another. They sat across from their newest potential client who seemed excited to see them. "My name is Eren. I'm Levi's Assistant." 

"I know who you are," warm brown eyes twinkled as the older woman took in Eren's appearance first, smiling when she seemed pleased with what she saw. Then she did the same to Levi who cleared his throat a bit uncertainly while she did so. "Hanji described you both perfectly. It was easy to recognize you two when you walked in." 

"Right," the raven straightened up in his seat. "Perhaps something to drink so we can get this meeting started?" 

"Oh, right." Eren snapped. "Um, would you like another coffee, miss...?" 

"Oh, where are my manners!" the woman laughed again. "Just call me Cheryl and no, thank you, dear. Anymore coffee for me and I'll regret it later." 

The brunet smiled, "Nice to meet you, Cheryl." Then he was standing to go and order drinks for Levi and himself. 

"Such a polite young man," Cheryl grinned. "And so handsome too!" 

"Ahem, yes." Levi agreed awkwardly. He chose to ignore the way his cheeks warmed slightly.

"How long have you two known each other?" the woman asked, surprising Levi a bit at the subject of her curious question.

"Eren has been working for me almost three years now." He answered truthfully.

Cheryl hummed at this and continued to smile and study Levi causing him to feel a little uncomfortable at this point. He tugged at the collar of his turtleneck and prayed that Eren would hurry back with their drinks because he was starting to feel a little helpless around this woman, which was absurd because it wasn't like Levi needed Eren to hold his hand. 

"Here's your tea, Levi." Eren's familiar voice said from next to him as the brunet slipped back into his seat and set his own coffee cup down on the table while handing Levi his tea. "Did I miss anything important?" 

"No." Levi answered a bit too quickly, taking a long sip of his hot tea and letting the heat warm his chilled body from the inside out. 

"Oh, good."

"So, Cheryl, what can we do for you?" 

At Levi's inquiery, Cheryl seemed to light up as she immediately straightened up in her seat and eyed both of them eagerly. 

"Actually, I think it's more like what I can do for _you_ two."

Confused, Eren and Levi exchanged similar questioning glances to one another before Levi decided to ask the obvious. 

"I'm sorry. I don't understand." 

"Didn't Nile or Hanji tell you?" Cheryl asked, looking a bit scandalized at Levi and Eren's clueless expressions. "He said you two were newly engaged and house hunting and I insisted on being introduced to you two." 

"Wait," Eren swallowed thickly, bright eyes wide with horror when he seemed to realize something. "You're Cheryl the _real estate agent_?" 

"Yes! So, you did hear about me!" the older woman chirped jovially. 

Levi was immediately frowning and slumping in his seat, "Ah, Fuc--" 

A sharp elbow in his ribs had his quiet cursing coming to an abrupt halt as he grunted and glared over at his offender. Eren was smiling at Cheryl nervously but Levi could see the warning in his posture as he threatened to elbow Levi in the same spot again if he didn't behave himself. 

"I mean, fantastic." Levi grumbled through clenched teeth. 

Suddenly, everything leading up to this meeting was starting to make sense to Levi as he put the pieces together. Hanji had been acting suspiciously and now he understood why; his earlier playful threat of shooting her later now suddenly seemed very appealing. 

Cheryl clapped her hands together, her smile impossibly wide at this point. "Well, now that we're all introduced, tell me about yourselves! I like to get to know my clients a little before helping them pick their dream home." Then she paused and reached both of her hands out and across the table to grip one of Eren's hands and one of Levi's, who stiffened at the unwanted contact. "I also just want to say that I think what you two are doing is so brave. I'm a firm supporter of same sex marriage and it just warms my heart to see you two." 

Levi wanted to gag and roll his eyes because Cheryl was really making it obvious that she didn't know very many same sex couples. If she did, she wouldn't be putting them on the spot like this. Sure, he understood that she was just being friendly, but he wished she wouldn't make such a big deal out of this. 

Eren seemed extremely flustered at her words, "O-Oh, well, thank you, Cheryl." 

"Now!" Cheryl leaned back into her seat and released their hands. "Tell me, how long have you two been together? I want the whole story!" 

She was met with silence as Levi and Eren tried to figure out how they were going to lie their way out of this one. They'd only planned how they'd tell their original fabricated story once, back when they first arrived in Germany and had to fool Eren's friends and family. Looking back on it, however, Levi figured they could probably make it more realistic. 

Plus, if they were going to be forced to deal with Cheryl, then Levi didn't see the harm in playing along and putting on another act in front of the woman. He would even admit that he and Eren had gotten quite good at faking their relationship to the point where their facade was almost flawless by now. 

So, with surprising ease, Levi reached his left hand across the table and laced his fingers with Eren's, prompting the brunet to look over at him with that lovely blush on his cheeks. The confusion was only there on his face for a split second before he caught onto Levi's game and began to play along himself. 

It was hard for Levi to ignore the way his heart raced when Eren's expression changed, eyes softening and a loving look replacing it as he smiled sweetly at him while tightening the grip he had on their linked hands. 

"There's not much to tell," Levi answered, grey eyes still glued to Eren's beautiful face as he spoke. "I suppose the attraction has always been there, but it took us two years to finally realize it. After that, it was just a manner of figuring out whether or not to let this relationship happen considering the difficult position it'd put us in." 

Eren broke their intense gaze, but this didn't stop Levi from continuing to stare at him anyway. "I wasn't about to let our jobs stop us from being together and in the end, I got what I wanted. I'm stubborn that way." he chuckled, his thumb absently rubbing little circles on the underside of Levi's pale wrist. 

"Yes, you are." the older man snorted. "You're just lucky everything worked out in the end and we still managed to keep our jobs." 

"Hey!" the brunet chuckled, finally turning back to look at Levi who was smirking slightly at him.

"Sorry," the raven mumbled, lifting Eren's hand to meet his lips where he placed a light kiss to his knuckles.

"You two..." Cheryl sighed. "Are simply too adorable for words! Forbidden office romance? It's like something out of a soap opera!" 

"Yeah, I guess it is." Eren chuckled nervously.

"Well, boys. What do you say you tell me what it is you're looking for in your dream home? I promise to do everything in my power to find the perfect house for you!" 

"Oh, um, well... I don't think we're looking for anything... big, right Levi?" Worried teal eyes turned to ask him for help and Levi decided to have mercy. 

"No," he agreed. "Nothing big at all. It's just the two of us, after all." 

Cheryl seemed skeptical all of sudden, "Hm, are you sure? What if you two decide to have kids? I would highly suggest more space for that. Something with a big backyard for them to play in!" 

Levi scoffed loudly, though it almost sounded suspiciously like a laugh. It startled Eren and caught Cheryl's interest immediately, both parties turning to stare at Levi with varying levels of confusion and surprise. 

"We don't plan on having any kids." he clarified. 

"Well, it's still up for discussion." Eren butted in, smirking at Levi. "He's just nervous about the idea because he's awkward around children." 

Cheryl and Eren shared a laugh at Levi's expense while said man simply rolled his eyes. 

"Okay, well, I'll leave that to you two to decide a little bit later on. This meeting is just for me to be able to get an idea of what you two are like and the kind of home you want. We can work on details in the next meeting!" Turning in her seat, Cheryl pulled out a rather large handbag that Levi hadn't seen before where she reached in and produced what looked like a planner. She set it out on the table, opened it up to a certain page and then fetched a pen from her bag. 

"Now, let's set up a date and time for the next meeting because I'd like to start helping you house hunt as soon as possible." 

Levi let Eren handle the conversation from that point on, considering Eren was the one in charge of his schedule anyway. In the meantime, while Cheryl and Eren chatted and talked, Levi sat back in his chair and sipped calmly at his tea, biding his time until this meeting was officially over. 

"Well, I think that about wraps everything up." Cheryl said, smiling and standing from her seat. Eren and Levi did the same, Eren extending his hand out to Cheryl for a handshake and Levi crossing his arms over his chest and nodding to her. She didn't seem at all offended at him not wanting to shake her hand, which he appreciated. "We'll talk thursday, boys!" 

They watched as Cheryl left the cafe, smiling and waving at them the entire time. Once the woman was out of sight, they both let out a sigh of relief and slumped back into their seats. Eren leaned forward and rested his forehead against the cool tabletop with a groan. 

"That... was nerve wrecking." 

"Fucking Hanji." Levi growled quietly. "She's just begging to have her ass kicked." 

Eren turned his head to stare up at his boss who glared daggers at the wall in front of them. "What are we gonna do, Levi? Hanji put us in a really difficult position and there's no way we can back out of _actually_ house hunting with Cheryl now." 

"I know that." 

"So, what do we do?" 

"... First, I'm going to strangle Hanji when we get back to the office." 

Eren could only roll his eyes and sigh heavily.

\- X -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -whispers- We're finally at the halfway point with the fic, guise... 15 MORE CHAPTERS TO GO!! (maybe, idk, I'm bad at planning this shit because Levi and Eren are fictional assholes that like to hijack my fics at the worst times.)
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter. I've already had this written up for the last month, but have been so busy that I haven't had the chance to post it or try to make it longer. But, I posted it any so that I could get something out to you guys.
> 
> Thanks for being so patient with me <3 You're all so great!!


	16. Lost In You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> '♪ Haven't you heard? I'm stuck on a verse  
> I'm stuck on a boy who fills me with joy  
> And he doesn't know just how far I would go just to kiss him  
> He doesn't know how I pine ♪'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EREN AND LEVI GO ON THEIR FIRST DATE!!

The days leading up to Levi's birthday were busy. Not just for Eren, but for everyone in the city, it seemed. 

Every street and sidewalk was crowded with people hurrying and rushing to get their last minute Christmas shopping done and Eren dreaded his walks into work lately. Luckily, Christmas Day landed on a sunday this year, which meant he didn't have to work. 

Levi had been pretty quiet about his plans for that day, choosing to ignore Eren whenever the brunet casually tried to bring it up. In truth, Hanji had given Eren several ideas and suggestions regarding celebrating Levi's birthday. In the end, she'd let him in on the small party she was planning to have for him at their home sunday afternoon. 

She'd graciously invited him to join them, considering Eren was Levi's "Fiance" and all. He'd politely refused, of course. The brunet had planned on spending his Christmas home alone this year, considering his parents were in Germany and Eren couldn't go home for Christmas without dragging Levi with him. It had only been three weeks since their visit to Germany and neither Eren nor Levi were in any rush to go back, if ever. 

Still, despite his polite refusal, Hanji was having none of it and managed to get Eren to promise he'd show up for their little gathering in order to celebrate Levi's birthday. Until then, Eren had been trying to figure out what he was going to get his grouchy, nit-picky boss for his birthday. 

He'd pondered on this very question for the past several days since learning about Levi's birthday in the first place, with no luck at all. He just couldn't figure out what he should buy the man who seemed to want nothing but yet already had everything. 

Designer clothes? No. Shoes? Ha. Jewelry? Eren's wallet would no doubt weep as soon as he set foot into one of the nicer jewelry stores in the city. Plus, how would he even justify getting Levi jewelry in the first place? That seemed like such an intimate thing to give to someone you've only _really_ gotten to know in the last three weeks. 

Sighing heavily, Eren adjusted the scarf wrapped tightly around his neck covering majority of his lower face. He carefully crossed the street to the little familiar coffee shop adjacent the building where he worked. It was a friday morning and, as per usual, Eren was getting Levi his cup of tea. 

Surprisingly, Levi had texted him that he'd be running late this morning and for the brunet to go ahead without him. They'd been arriving at work together for the past week and a half, and Eren had gotten used to the playful banter and the casual conversations they often carried with one another while walking into work from Levi's apartment. 

Smiling to himself at the memory of something Levi said yesterday morning, Eren lightly jogged across the street avoiding several other people who were walking in the opposite direction of him with practiced ease. 

Upon reaching the Coffee Shop's familiar doors, Eren sighed with relief when he entered the establishment and his sense of smell was immediately assaulted with the rich scent of freshly ground coffee beans and other heavenly aromas; not to mention the warmth that beckoned him inside the small but bustling shop.

As he stood in the building queue, Eren loosened his scarf from around his neck and removed his gloves. He glanced around the shop quickly and noted that most of the tables and chairs were empty, being that most of the people coming into the shop were taking their drinks and morning sweets to go. 

He fished out his phone from his coat pocket and immediately began texting Levi.

**Eren:** _What time are you coming in?_

He hoped Levi would answer him quickly and with a time frame for just _how_ late the man was going to be for work. He hadn't given the brunet a reason for why he was going to be late in the first place, but Eren figured it must be important, whatever it was. Levi was not the type to come into work late unless it was a serious health issue or something of the like, which, Eren had yet to experience a time when Levi took off from work because of an illness. 

The man's immune system must be some kind of world wonder because in the three years Eren has worked for him, he could count at least six different times he'd had to call in sick because of a cold or the flu. All the while, Levi never showed any signs of such sicknessnes. 

Chuckling quietly, Eren reasoned with himself that it probably had to do with Levi's obsession with cleanliness. The man was practically borderline germaphobic. His phone buzzed in his hand and Eren was quick to read the reply he was eagerly waiting for. 

**Levi:** _Probably an hour or so. Fucking pipe busted in my bathroom. Waiting for the super to send up maintenance man._

Slightly frowning, Eren began typing out a reply immediately. No wonder Levi told him to come into work without him. No doubt, this was going to take awhile. 

**Eren:** _Damn. Okay. See you later?_

"Next in line!" a familiar voice called out, startling Eren back to the present when he realized that he was the next customer in line. 

Stepping up to the counter, Eren was greeted by Mylius, the friendly barista who smiled brightly upon seeing him. 

"Hey, you're back." The platinum blond man behind the counter said with a chuckle. "Haven't seen you coming in recently. I was worried. What'll it be? The usual?" 

"No. Just a caramel latte today, thanks. Medium." 

As Mylius rang him up, Eren reached into his back pocket and fished out his wallet to pay for his order. 

"To go, right?" 

"Actually," the brunet paused to think on that. "No. I'll drink it here. I have some time on my hands." 

Which, wasn't a lie. There was no point in him going back to the office if Levi wasn't even there. Plus, now that his usual morning routine had been abruptly changed, Eren wanted to sit down in a cozy little corner somewhere and call his boss. No doubt, Levi was probably seething at having to come in late to work in order to wait for maintenance.

"Great!" Mylius chirped, ringing Eren up and putting the brunet's money in the till before shutting it. "Mind if I join you? I've got a short break coming up anyway." 

"Oh," Eren said, surprised at the bold request. He knew Mylius was interested in him, has been for some time, but, well. It was complicated wasn't it? Technically, he wasn't single. But, it wasn't like Mylius was asking him out, so, where was the harm in having a drink with a friendly face? "Sure." 

"Great! Go ahead and have a seat anywhere. I'll join you in a minute." 

Nodding with a smile, Eren grabbed his hot drink and relished in the warmth that seeped into his hand as he carried his order toward an empty table. He picked one near a window so that he could people watch as he took a tentative sip of his drink. 

He glanced down at his phone, still clutched in his left hand. Levi hadn't replied back to him, but Eren had a feeling he probably wouldn't. Sighing, the brunet wondered if maybe he could make a quick call to his boss before--

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting." Mylius said, taking the seat across from Eren with a cup of his own settled in front of him. "I'm glad you finally agreed to have coffee with me." 

Eren put his phone down screen up on the table top and chuckled at the blond barista sitting across from him. Mylius wasn't even trying to be subtle about his interest in Eren. 

"I don't recall you ever asking me out for coffee." the brunet pointed out playfully. His eyes drifted back to the screen of his phone despite knowing he had no new messages. 

"No," the blond agreed. "But I did give you my number on a couple of occasions. Didn't you ever notice it written down on the sleeve of your cups?" 

"Ah," Eren said, eyes snapping up from his phone screen to stare at Mylius who was giving him a crooked grin. "Right. The cup you wrote it on was actually not for me." 

"Ah," Mylius parroted. "That makes sense. I got a little worried when you didn't text or call but I guess I had no need to be worried, in the end. You're here now." 

At the flirtatious look on the blond's face, Eren smiled awkwardly and felt strangely uncomfortable. It wasn't like Mylius wasn't attractive, on the contrary, he was very attractive. Still, Eren couldn't really find it in himself to reciprocate the blond's efforts; he was almost surprised to realize that he just wasn't interested. 

"So, tell me about yourself." Mylius said, easy smile stretching his pretty lips as he leaned a little closer. "I finally have a chance to talk to you and get to know you. I wanna know everything." 

Taking another sip from his latte, Eren shrugged and broke eye contact with the barista. Once again, his eyes found the dark screen of his phone and his fingers twitched, wanting to pick it up and text his boss. Oddly enough, Levi was the only thing on Eren's mind, currently. 

"There's not much to tell." he answered a bit distractedly. "I work at Smith & Dok Advertising across the street. I've been working there for three years. I'm a bit of a caffeine addict, but you already knew that." 

That earned him a bark of laughter from the attractive blond sitting across from him, the corners of Eren's lips twitched up slightly. His eyes flicked back down to his phone for probably the third time since Mylius sat down and Eren cursed to himself. He needed to stop checking his phone every couple of seconds. 

"Are you expecting a call or a text from someone?" Mylius asked, catching Eren's attention once more. 

The brunet looked up to see the curious expression on the blond barista's face as he tilted his head at him slightly. Right. Eren was probably coming off as distracted and rude right about now and it wasn't fair to Mylius who was being nothing but nice to him. 

"What? Oh, no. I mean, yes, but... no?" Mylius blinked in confusion at him and Eren sighed heavily, flashing him a sheepish grin. "Sorry. It's nothing. Tell me a little about yourself."

And Eren decided he was going to try his best to pay attention to the blond barista as Mylius perked up and started chattering away. Apparently, it was harder than Eren thought it was going to be. He had put his phone away in his pocket and was staring at Mylius while occasional nodding and humming at something the blond said, but in truth, Eren wasn't really paying attention to anything he was saying. 

It was all muted words to his ears as his mind once again drifted back to his cell phone sitting in his pocket. He was hyper aware of it's light weight resting against his thigh and he found himself wanting to call Levi, hear the man's voice that was no doubt probably frustrated and strained from his vexation. 

Eren found it a little funny that he could already predict Levi's moods by just the tone of the man's voice now; the way it changed slightly when he was annoyed, irritated or just angry. Levi's neutral tone was usually low and satiny, but authoritative and imposing. When he was angry or annoyed, his voice was heavier and sharp, like a blade. Eren had only been witness to this change of voice a small handful of times, as it was hard to cause Levi to lose his composure most days. Although, the quickest way to anger him was to keep a sloppy desk/work area.

But then, there were those very rare instances when Eren would catch a tired Levi dozing in his chair near the end of a work day. His voice got extremely soft and twice as low when he was tired, almost to the point where it was nearly a whisper when he spoke. Thinking back on those times now, Eren couldn't help but think that Levi's voice was the stuff of dreams. Well, _Eren's_ dreams, anyway. What he wouldn't give to hear that voice right now. 

"... and that was when I figured ice skating was probably a bad idea. I mean, I don't even know how to ice skate." Mylius paused when Eren suddenly perked up, an idea hitting him like a bat to the head. "Eren?" 

"What? Oh! Shit, I'm sorry, Mylius. I just remembered I have to do something." 

"Oh... okay, then." The barista deflated for a brief moment before he seemed to notice the platinum band on Eren's left ring finger. "Hey, is that an engagement ring?" he asked, eyeing Eren skeptically. 

Eren had stood up and was gathering his things when Mylius pointed out his engagement ring prompting him to stop what he was doing to look down at the ring resting on his finger and smile down at it. 

"Yes, it is." he said, eyes soft and expression thoughtful. "I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner, Mylius. I hope I didn't lead you on in some way." For the first time since this impromptu date began, Eren gave the blond barista an apologetic look. "That was never my intention." 

"Well, damn." Mylius sighed, looking a bit put out before he flashed Eren a sheepish grin. "I guess this means I've just been friend-zoned." 

Feeling slightly relieved that he hadn't hurt Mylius by hiding the fact that he was involved with someone, the brunet sighed with a little smile and a head shake. 

"I'm afraid so." 

"Can I ask," the barista began, standing up to walk with Eren as he left the coffee shop. "Who's the lucky person who managed to steal your heart?" 

As they exited the coffee shop, Eren was slapped in the face with a cold, biting wind that chilled him down to his very bones. He quickly rewound his scarf around his neck and smiled as best he could over at the blond barista who shivered. 

"Levi," he said with a fond look in his teal colored eyes. "His name is Levi." 

"Levi." Mylius repeated, nodding his head slowly. "Well, thanks for indulging me today, anyway. Congratulations." 

"Thanks, Mylius. See you around?" 

"You bet." the blond barista winked with a smile before he hurried back into the warmth of the small coffee shop leaving Eren alone standing on the bustling sidewalk.

Sighing, Eren braced himself for the cold weather as he hailed a cab. Waiting for the car to pull up to the curb, Eren felt his heart fluttering in his chest as he thought about the present he would give to Levi. The idea hit him when Mylius had mentioned ice skating, and that also helped Eren decide on what he would do for Levi's birthday. 

As he climbed into the cab and gave the driver directions, Eren smiled feeling a little giddy. He knew how much Levi hated Christmas and cold weather, and maybe this idea could backfire on him in the end, but, he had to at least give it a try. 

He fished out his phone from his coat pocket once and more and dialed Levi's number, bringing the phone up to his ear as he waited for the ringing to stop. On the third ring, Levi answered and Eren couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as he heard the raven's familiar baritone over the phone. 

He heard Levi's heavy sigh crackle over the line before the man spoke, _"You have impeccable timing, Jaeger."_

"Yeah? I figured you were probably about ready to lose your shit soon. Did Maintenance get there yet?" 

_"Yeah, just now. I was getting ready to call you to let you know I'll be at the office in about an hour."_

"Hm. Okay, well that's good. Hey, so, I wanted to ask you something." Eren was met with a heavy silence on the other line as he waited with bated breath for Levi to say something. 

_"... What is it, brat?"_

At the familiar nickname, Eren's heart skipped a beat and his grin widened. "Can you meet me Saturday at Rockefeller Center around 3pm?" 

_"Saturday?"_ he heard Levi grumble. _"But that's Christmas Eve."_

"Yeah, so?" the brunet chuckled. "Do you have plans I don't know about?" He was only teasing, but the idea of Levi rejecting his offer worried him... a lot. 

_"Tch, don't be ridiculous, Eren. I'm as free as a god damn bird this weekend, although, I'm a little suspicious about why you want to meet with me at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve."_

Eren couldn't help but smirk despite Levi not being there in person to see it. "Don't worry about it. Just meet me there at 3pm." 

_"Fine. I'll be there."_

"And dress warmly!" He heard some more grumbling from Levi's end and chuckled quietly to himself before he ended the call. "I'll see you at the office, Boss!" 

Pocketing his phone, Eren looked up just in time. They had reached his destination and he quickly paid the cabby before he darted out of the car. He shivered at the cold air that greeted him upon leaving the cab, but with his signature fierce determination, Eren bucked up and began fighting his way past stinging winter winds and the crowds of people.

\- X -

Saturday came much too quickly for Levi, and the proof was in how nervous he was as he left his apartment to meet up with Eren.

As he took the elevator down to the lobby, Levi couldn't help but wonder why Eren wanted to meet up with him today of all days. Didn't the kid have plans with his friends or even his family? Thinking back on it, Levi couldn't remember how Eren normally spent his Christmas every year. The brunet never mentioned anything about going back home to Germany or family coming in to visit. 

Of course, it was possible that Eren just didn't celebrate the holiday, but Levi found that rather hard to believe. The kid seemed like the type to love Christmas and all the trouble that came with it. Unlike Levi, the younger man was definitely a family kind of person. 

Not surprisingly, the city streets were absolutely packed. Levi cursed to himself quietly when he stepped out into the chilly late December air and it immediately stung at his eyes. He tightened the thick wool cowl he had wrapped around his neck and clenched his teeth to prevent them from chattering. He had half a mind to turn back. 

Forgoing walking, Levi took his usual car service and was standing before Rockefeller Center in no time at all. Like hell he was going to walk all the way there in this weather. He'd rather chew his own arm off than freeze his ass off in this fucking cold. Eren better have a damn good reason for making him meet him like this. 

Thankfully, the raven didn't have to wait long at all before the brunet was calling out to him while approaching. Levi studied him as he closed the distance between them, avoiding any collisions with other people. Eren was [wearing](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/f7/70/c4/f770c4c75e6b8317f99d5fe3e5cec8c7.jpg) a very casual outfit, making Levi grateful that he'd decided to come dressed a bit casually himself. It would have been embarrassing if he had gone with the outfit he had originally planned to wear.

"You're right on time." Eren said with a lopsided grin as he finally reached the shorter man who was still eyeing him critically. 

"Well, obviously." Levi said with a small scoff and an eye roll. 

"You look very nice." 

Surprised by the compliment, the raven took a second to glance down at his own attire before he was giving Eren a strange look. What was so special about what he was [wearing](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/27/b3/0c/27b30c0264f2b00d713374a34895d1ec.jpg)? Levi didn't think there was anything to compliment about the sweater and slacks he was wore underneath a heavy charcoal tweed overcoat. This was something he normally wore. 

"You did tell me to dress warmly, so, here I am, dressed warmly." he pointed out a bit sarcastically. 

Thankfully, Eren chuckled, "I did say that, but, I can't help but feel like you're missing something." 

Suddenly, Levi was being handed a gift bag with navy blue tissue paper sticking out of it. He eyed the bag for one long moment, not sure what he was meant to do with it. Eren looked a bit anxious as he waited for Levi to take the gift from him, which, he did eventually. 

"What's this?" the older man asked, clearly confused by the gift and the reason behind it. 

"Happy Birthday, Levi." the brunet said softly, his smile sweet and his cheeks flushed. "I know it's actually tomorrow, but, I wasn't sure if I'd see you at all this weekend." 

Surprised, Levi couldn't help but stare up at a suddenly shy Eren as the younger man shifted his weight from foot to foot while scratching at the back of his head.

"Aren't you going to open it?" he asked, teal eyes hesitantly raising to meet his. 

"Now?" Levi croaked, quickly clearing his throat. 

"Yes, now." Eren laughed and the sound was like a million tinkling bells to Levi's ears. "I'm pretty sure it's something you can use and I'm also very sure you'll appreciate it right about now." 

Levi was hyper aware of the fact that Eren was watching him intensely as he awkwardly opened the gift bag and pushed back some of the tissue paper. Inside the bag sat a very fluffy pair of cream colored ear muffs. The raven wasn't entirely sure what he had been expecting, but this certainly hadn't been it and his relief must have shown on his face because Eren started questioning him nervously. 

"What? Do you... not like them?" he asked, voice tiny and unsure. So uncharacteristic of him. "Maybe I should have bought them in black after all." he heard the brunet mutter to himself regretfully. "I just figured you'd like them since you're always complaining about your ears being cold whenever we walk to the office together and―"

"Eren," Levi said as he took a step forward and placed a hand over the brunet's lips to promptly silence him. "Shut up. I love them." 

"Really?" the brunet mumbled through the palm of Levi's hand. 

"Yes." the raven said, the tiniest of smiles playing on the corners of his lips. "Thank you. I'll definitely use them." 

Eren reached up and gently gripped Levi's wrist to pull the older man's hand away from his mouth as he flashed Levi a huge grin that made the raven's heart skip a beat. 

"Why don't you use them now?" he asked, taking the bag from Levi's hand and reaching in to grab the fluffy ear muffs. "You didn't think the only reason I asked you to meet me here was so that I could just give you a birthday gift, did you?" 

"No...? I honestly had no fucking clue why you asked me here at all and on Christmas Eve, no less. I was fully prepared to kick your ass if you had called me here for nothing." 

Chuckling, Eren placed the ear muffs securely on Levi's head and the raven was immediately surprised by how warm his ears were now that they weren't exposed to the cold any longer. 

"Don't worry," Eren said with that gorgeously disarming smile of his. The one that caused Levi to go a little weak in the knees and want to sigh every time he saw it, as cheesy as that sounded. "I've got a whole afternoon planned for us." 

Confused, Levi opened his mouth to question the brunet, but the words died on his lips when Eren reached down and grasped his hand in his lacing their fingers together. The action was so easy and familiar and Levi couldn't bring himself to say anything that would cause the hand-holding to possibly stop anytime soon. He still didn't understand what Eren was planning, but he was more than happy staying in the dark if it meant he could stay with Eren like this for just a little while longer. 

So, with any questions he had left unvoiced, Levi allowed himself to be led around by the hand with Eren only a few steps ahead of him shielding the raven from the brunt of the biting wind and the bustling crowds. He was perfectly content simply staring at Eren's strong, broad back for now.

\- X -

"Eren," Levi growled, his legs shaking underneath him as he clung to the arm steadying him desperately. "When you said you had a whole afternoon planned for us, I didn't think that plan included fucking ice skating." 

The younger man laughed as he did his best to steady a very uneasy and shaky Levi on ice skates. That only managed to earn him a dark glare from the older man as he nearly lost his balance for the tenth time and slipped. 

"Jesus fuck―! Eren, goddamn it, don't you dare even think about letting go of me. I will hunt your ass down if you do." 

At Eren's increased laughter with each scathing yet empty threat from Levi's mouth, the raven felt his cheeks heating up with embarrassment. Why had he let Eren convince him that ice skating would be a fun idea? Levi had never been ice skating before in his life and now he was letting his attractive yet stupidly annoying Assistant drag him out onto the ice. He could imagine the hilarious sight they both must have made, with Eren expertly gliding across the ice like it was second nature to him and Levi clinging to his arm and just being dragged along like a dog on a lead. 

"How the fuck are you so good at this shit?" he hissed, clutching onto the sleeve of Eren's coat tighter when he thought he felt one of his skates slide a little too far. 

"I used to come ice skating here with my friends a lot as teenagers. It's not that hard to get the hang of but you've gotta loosen up a bit, Levi." 

"Shut up." 

"... Want me to try spinning you?" the brunet asked with an impish smile that made Levi's blood run cold with fear. 

"Don't. You. Fucking. Dare." he warned with a rather impressive glower. 

"Geez, alright, I won't spin you. Can you just try and not tense up so much? I promise I won't let you go." 

Levi hesitated for a moment. "... Promise?" 

"Yes, I promise." 

With a quite groan, Levi slowly straightened up and relaxed his tense body little by little until he was no longer stiff as a board. 

"Good, that's much better. Now, just match my rhythm and you'll be skating in no time." 

"I should dock your pay for thinking this was something I would enjoy." the raven grumbled to himself as he shakily tried to match Eren's graceful strides. "I left Canada to get _away_ from all this fucking bullshit." 

"Yeah, yeah, less complaining, more skating." Eren chided playfully. "Was living in Quebec really that bad?" he asked conversationally as they passed an elderly couple. 

"Yes." Levi said bluntly. "If there's one thing I don't miss about Canada, it's the fucking winters. Among other things." 

"So, there's not like one single thing you miss about your home town at all?" 

The raven had to take a moment to think about that before he answered, "Well, no, I guess there are a couple of things I do miss but it's not like they're any reason for me to want to go back." 

"Name one of them." Eren said, tucking Levi a little closer to him as they rounded a corner and avoided another couple.

"I guess... one thing I miss about my home town was the poetry." 

"Poetry?" 

"Yeah. I remember when I'd go wandering around downtown that there were these little plaques on anything from buildings to benches with verses of poetry on them. Sometimes I would just spend hours going from plaque to plaque reading each and every one." 

At the nostalgic look on Levi's face, Eren nudged him gently earning him the raven's attention. 

"Did you have a favorite verse?" he asked with a curious little grin. 

"..." Levi stared at Eren for a couple of seconds before he looked down at the ice beneath their feet. "Actually, there was one particular plaque that I always liked to return to whenever I was having a really rough time." 

"What did it say?" 

"I learned later on that it was written by a french poet named Gustave Flaubert. If I remember correctly, It went something like... _'Je crois que si on a toujours regardé le ciel, on pourrait se retrouver avec des ailes.'_ " He thought he heard Eren swallow but it was probably just his imagination playing tricks on him. 

"What does that mean?" the brunet asked, his big doe eyes penetrating and glittering with eager curiosity. 

"'I believe that if one always looked to the skies, one would end up with wings.' or something like that, more or less." Levi shrugged.

"That's... beautiful, actually." 

Levi hummed his agreement and eventually the two were falling a comfortable silence as they continued to skate circles around the rink. 

"Hey, Levi." Eren said minutes later, prompting the raven to look up at him. 

"Hm?" 

"Did you notice... you're finally skating on your own." 

With his eyes widening slightly in horror, Levi quickly looked down to see that he was indeed skating on his own with only his left hand linked with Eren's. At the realization that there was nothing to support him if he fell, Levi immediately felt his legs go weak and shake and he felt himself about to fall. 

"Shit―!" 

In a split second of pure desperation, Levi grabbed onto Eren's arm and had hoped that doing so would stop him from falling but instead, it only served to surprise Eren who had been caught off guard by the sudden death grip Levi had on his arm once more. 

"Whoa!" Eren shouted, as he got dragged down to the cold, hard ice landing on top of the shorter male. 

"Mother fucker..." Levi hissed as he cradled the back of his head that had hit the ice 

Wincing, Eren propped himself up on his elbows and gave Levi's entire form a concerned once over to see if he could find any visible injuries. 

"Shit, Levi, are you okay? Did you hit your head?"

"... A little bit." 

"And you were doing so well too." 

Opening his eyes, Levi looked up into the worried face of his Assistant who looked a little disappointed that Levi had lost his composure and fallen on his ass dragging the brunet down with him. It was rather comical, when Levi thought about. They probably looked ridiculous right now, Eren laying half on top of him and Levi laying half under him while other couples and families passed them by and gave them strange looks. He hadn't meant to, but Levi snorted before he was full-on laughing at just how stupid this whole thing was. 

"A-Are you actually laughing?" Eren stuttered before a big smile cracked his face in half and he was soon chuckling along with Levi's loud laughter. 

"N-No I'm n-not." the raven wheezed as he threw a hand over his mouth to stifle anymore laughter from spilling out but it seemed he had a case of the giggles because he was powerless to stop it. 

"Oh my god, you are! I've never heard you laugh out loud before." 

"S-Shut up!" Levi tried saying with a straight face as he pushed at Eren's chest with the palms of his hands but soon he broke out into laughter again and he just didn't understand why. "Get off, Jaeger." 

Eren did as he was told, but not without laughing along with Levi the entire time as he rolled off the smaller man and allowed him to sit up. Once he was finally sitting up, Levi's laughing fit seemed to gradually start to wane and he could breath again. 

When he finally got his laughter fully under control, he made the mistake of looking up to find Eren staring at him with a rather curious look on his face. He had a crooked little smile stretching his lips but there was something in the way he looked at Levi, something deep within his forest green eyes that made warmth bloom in the raven's chest but also terrified him to the core. 

"You have a nice laugh." Eren said, snapping Levi out of his reverie. 

The older man felt his cheeks flame with heat and he was quickly looking away while clearing his throat. 

"Let's get the hell off this ice before I freeze my ass off. I think I've had just about enough 'fun' to last me the whole year."

\- X -

"Here's your tea. Sorry it took so long. The line at the coffee shop was insanely long." 

Eren took a seat next to Levi who was occupying a bench. From their seat, they could easily view the majestic lighted tree at the heart of Rockefeller Center. Levi allowed the heat radiating from the paper cup to heat his chilled fingers before he took a careful sip of the hot drink and sighed. Eren did the same with his latte and the two fell into another comfortable silence as they simply people watched. 

"So, did you have fun?" the brunet asked, turning his head to stare at Levi who did the same thing. 

"Aside from the part where I lost my balance and caused us both to fall on our asses in front of a bunch of strangers? Sure, I guess you could say I had fun." he snorted before taking another sip of his tea. 

From where he sat, Levi could smell the peppermint on Eren's breath and he eyed the paper cup in the brunet's hand curiously. The younger man was quick to follow his gaze and laughed a little when he lifted the cup up to show it off. 

"Ah, they were selling Peppermint Latte's at the cafe and I couldn't bring myself to pass up the opportunity." At Levi's disbelieving eye roll, Eren puffed out his chest in offense and pouted. "Hey, you can't blame me. It's Christmas!" 

"Don't remind me." the raven mumbled around the rim of his cup. 

"How were the ear muffs? Did they keep your ears nice and warm?" Eren asked, choosing to steer the subject to more cheerful territory. 

"Yes, actually. My ears are nice and toasty at the moment." At his use of the word toasty, Eren snorted a laugh and Levi felt the corners of his lips tug upward at the noise. If they wanted to have a debate about who had a nice laugh, Levi would definitely vote for Eren's laugh being the best, hands down. His laugh in comparison was awkward and stiff. 

"Good, I'm glad." 

To Levi's great surprise, Eren once again laced their fingers together prompting Levi to stare down at their linked hands with something akin to confusion on his face. 

"Sorry, do you not like it when I hold your hand? I just figured your fingers are probably cold and my body is always insanely hot anyway." he explained, cheeks lightly flushed.

"No," Levi blurted out. "No, I don't mind. It's... nice, actually." 

It was more than nice, really. It was such a simple and innocent gesture, holding someone's hand, but for Levi it was more than enough to have his heart beating a mile a minute as he felt Eren's thumb rubbing little circles against his knuckle. 

"It's getting cold out." Eren pointed out before he realized his error. "Well, I mean, colder." He corrected while flashing Levi a sheepish grin. 

"I'm assuming this is our cue to go our separate ways and head home." Levi said casually, although it hurt his heart to think of leaving Eren so soon. 

"Well, we don't have to go our separate ways just yet. I was kind of hoping to walk you back to your apartment and all that cliche romantic crap you see in movies. Think of it as us making up for not getting to walk to work together on friday." he chuckled. 

"You really know how to woo a guy, don't you?" the raven teased. "But, alright, Jaeger. I'll let you be play the chivalrous date for a little while." 

And chivalrous was exactly what Eren was the whole way back to Levi's apartment. When the car from Levi's fancy car service came to pick them up, the brunet had opened the door for Levi and allowed him to get into the car first before sliding in after. He did the same thing for the older man when they reached Levi's upscale apartment building and the raven couldn't help but smirk and roll his eyes when Eren jogged ahead of him to call the elevator down before Levi even made it to the double doors. 

They playfully teased each other and joked around as they rode the elevator up to Levi's floor but their conversation became stagnant when they finally reached Levi's door and the older man fished around in his coat pockets for his keys. 

"Well, thanks for indulging me today, Levi. I know Christmas isn't your thing and you normally despise cold weather, but, I just wanted to do something fun for your birthday so you could have at least one nice memory about it 50 years from now." 

Levi finally got his door unlocked and opened and he was so very tempted to invite Eren in, to try and get him to stay and spend just a little more time with him, but, that was just wishful thinking, wasn't it? Eren was probably eager to go off and spend his Christmas Eve with friends or maybe he had a hot date waiting for him. Who knew? Levi sure didn't, nor did he care to know. It should have been enough that Eren went out of his way and spent this much time with him, despite this not being apart of their fake relationship and their was nothing to be gained from doing any of this. It was just a simple act of good will on the brunet's part, no doubt. Yeah, that had to be it, Levi reasoned with himself. 

But, if there was even just the tiniest chance that Eren was feeling the same things that Levi was feeling this whole time; if there was even the smallest sliver of attraction between them, something that would convince Levi that he wasn't simply going crazy and imagining all this these past couple of weeks, it would be enough for him. Even if this... _whatever_ they had going on between them was just all in Levi's head, he had to risk finding out, didn't he? After all, it was Christmas and miracles happened all the time. 

"Eren," the raven called softly, his back still facing the brunet as he prepared to do something very risky and possibly quite heart shattering. "I didn't get to thank you properly for doing this for me today." 

"You don't have to do anything to thank me, Levi." Eren breathed a soft laugh. "I wanted to do this for you. I was _happy_ to do this for you and plus, I had a lot of fun, too." 

Hearing those words made the little needles of anxiety pricking at Levi's heart ease and a tiny, genuine smile formed on his face as he slowly turned to face his Assistant who was standing no less than five feet from him. He noticed the way Eren's eyes immediately latched onto his lips that were stretched thin due to his smile and that only cemented his resolve for what he was about to do next. He was scared and nervous as hell, his palms sweating a bit as he swallowed thickly and took a careful step toward the brunet who continued to stare at his lips as though transfixed on them. 

"That's good," Levi said, his voice enticingly low and soft. "I'm glad you had fun too." 

In Eren's distraction, the raven took the chance to close the distance between them until he was cornering Eren back up against the hallway wall. Carefully, Levi reached a hand up and softly brushed it past the shell of Eren's ear until his fingers were tangled loosely in thick brown locks of hair. As if already knowing what was about to happen, Eren's eyes hooded and he stared down at Levi through thick eyelashes.

"Eren..." he caressed that name on his tongue and it rolled from his lips in a deep breathy tone that had the cornered brunet releasing a stuttered breath that encouraged Levi to finally seal the deal. 

Craning his neck up, Levi slowly closed the distance between their waiting lips and their noses brushed. Every hair on Levi's body was standing on end, as though electricity was coursing through his very veins and reacting to Eren's body being so close to his. He was drawn to his warmth like a moth to a flame and it was so intoxicating to breath in that familiar scent of spices and cinnamon that had become so painfully familiar to the raven by now. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget this scent for as long as he lived. It would haunt him like a former lover's touch. 

Finally, as Levi was about to taste those warm lips again, a loud noise startled both men and had all of Levi's senses on high alert causing him to whip his head away from those waiting lips to search for the source of the noise. His heart was pounding in his chest as grey eyes frantically searched for the mysterious offender, only to find his next door neighbor standing in the middle of the hall gaping at both men with bulging eyes and jaw practically on the floor. 

"O-Oh! I'm sorry, Mr. Ackerman. I didn't mean to... interrupt." the older gentleman said as he quickly locked his front door and started power walking down the hall toward the fire escape. 

Levi sucked his teeth quietly and knew immediately that there was no point in even trying to build up the lost momentum has he previously built up with Eren right before that kiss. Looking back at the brunet who was nearly pinned to the wall by him, Levi saw the slightly frightened look on Eren's face as he stared after Levi's neighbor long after the man was gone. 

So, with a heavy heart and with great reluctance, Levi removed his hand from Eren's hair and sighed before taking a step back and scratching awkwardly at the back of his undercut. 

"Um, thanks for today. I mean it." 

"Oh..." Eren said quietly, with no little amount of disappointment clear in his tone. "Yeah, sure, no problem at all. I-I'm glad you had a nice time." 

Levi turned and walked into the foyer of his apartment, but before he shut the door he turned back around and gave his Assistant one last smile for his troubles. 

"Goodnight, Jaeger. Merry Christmas." 

"Merry Christmas, Levi..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm soo sorry I had to tease you guys with that almost-kiss at the end. I was TOTALLY going to go through with the kiss at first but... then... fucking fictional characters hijacking my fic happened and now Eren and Levi decided to make you guys wait even longer for their first REAL kissANDIMSOSORRYITSNOTMYFAULTIWANTEDTOWRITETHEMFINALLYKISSINGFORGIVEMEEEE


	17. That Damn Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _'♪ Don't go out much at all, I've never been the type to call_   
>  _I realize to be happy maybe I need a little company_   
>  _So, now you know, you know it all_   
>  _That I've been desperately alone... ♪_
> 
> **Happy - Marina & the Diamonds**   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi spend Christmas Together.   
> More Erwin and Hanji and baby! With a sprinkle of Mike and Nanaba!

Levi arrived at Hanji and Erwin's home around 5pm the following day. It took a lot of convincing just to get him to agree to come, considering it was his Birthday and he was more than aware of the fact that Hanji and Erwin were most likely going to try and turn this "small christmas gathering" into a birthday party for him. It was the same thing they tried to pull every single year since they all met and frankly, Levi wasn't even angry about it anymore. 

"Happy Birthday, snow bunny!" Hanji greeted as she flung her front door open. 

Levi simply stared at her jadedly before his grey eyes caught sight of the horrible tacky Christmas Sweater she was wearing. Then his features slowly morphed into a grimace when Erwin joined his excitable wife at the door donning his own ugly christmas sweater. 

"This is my birthday party from '09 all over again." he groaned. 

"Merry Christmas, Levi." Erwin beamed, gently ushering his wife aside so that the raven could step in out of the cold. 

"Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas and all that fake cheery bullshit." 

"Ah, it just isn't Christmas without our favorite Scrooge, is it, honey bear?" Hanji sighed happily. 

"No, it isn't. We'd be lost without Levi's sarcastic comments about our Christmas Traditions and besides," pale blue eyes twinkled as they settled on the shorter raven who was busy removing his overcoat, earmuffs and scarf. "Who would drink all of our wine? Surely, not you, snookums." 

The brunette gasped dramatically while rubbing her stomach, "Perish the thought!" 

"Are you two idiots done yet? I'd like to get an early start on my drinking if that's alright with both of you." Scoffed Levi. 

"Yes, yes, we're done. Lets all head into the sitting room. Mike is there and Nanaba should be getting here a little later." 

Erwin began ushering them all through the foyer and Levi couldn't help but notice as he was guided through their home like a lost child that the entire place smelled like an overwhelming mix of spiced apples, pumpkin bread and hints of vanilla. 

"Goddamn, Hanji. Did you raid the entire Bath and Bodyworks store and soak your carpets and walls in their shit because it smells like the inside of a gingerbread house in here." the raven complained, much to Erwin's amusement as the taller blond snorted a laugh. 

"Hey," the brunette warned. "There will be no complaining on your birthday-mas, Mister." 

"My what?" 

"Birthday-mas!" 

"... You know what, I don't even want to fucking know." 

No sooner than Levi could finish that sentence were the three of them entering the front sitting room together. There they were greeted by the sight of Mike Zacharius sitting on their plush chocolate leather sectional with a cup of eggnog in his hand and yet another ugly christmas sweater. His had the face of a pug on it with smaller pugs surrounding it. 

"Dear fuck..." Levi mumbled to himself as he got an eyeful of his Ex-lover's godawful red and green sweater. 

"Levi." the giant blond said with a nod of his head. "Happy Birthday." 

"Mike." the raven greeted back. "You're still being forced to attend Hanji and Erwin's Christmas Parties, I see." 

"Nobody forced him to come, Levi." Erwin sighed. "Mike is still my best friend, naturally we'd invite him to spend the holidays with us." 

"I thought _I_ was your best friend." Levi frowned, displaying mock hurt in his tone. 

Erwin seemed to find his act amusing, "Oh, you're definitely my best something." 

"Yeah, well, fuck you too, Smith." 

"There's his Christmas Spirit!" Hanji cheered. "Now that Levi's here, lets crack that first bottle of wine open. Whoever wants Eggnog can help themselves." 

"No thanks," the raven snorted. "I learned my lesson Senior year of college to never drink anything you've mixed together unless I want to end up black out drunk and naked in a bathtub the next morning." 

"You and Hanji seemed to end up in a lot of bathtubs in college." Erwin mused out loud. 

"Don't remind me." Mike sniffed. "I can remember plenty of times I had to come and pick Levi up out of a tub when we were still dating." 

Levi didn't deign that with any type of reaction, instead, he simply turned on the heel of his foot and walked out of the sitting room. He could hear some quiet murmuring behind him as he made his way into the kitchen, but he didn't bother trying to make out what was being said. Whatever the others were thinking his abrupt departure meant, they were wrong. What Mike said didn't upset him, not really. Just made him a little uncomfortable. 

Maneuvering his way through Hanji and Erwin's kitchen was a piece of cake, considering Levi had been here more times than he could probably count over the last six years they'd lived here. He easily found the cupboard where they kept their wine glasses and other various glasses and cups, then he opened their fridge and pulled out a random bottle of wine without evening bothering to look at the label. He just knew that it was red and it was fancy, that's all he cared to know in the end. He made quick work of uncorking the bottle and pouring himself his first glass of the evening. 

Hanji and Erwin followed him into the kitchen minutes later and found the raven casually leaning against one of their granite counter tops with a full glass of red wine held elegantly in his slender right hand. 

"You alright?" Hanji asked, concern lacing her tone and worry in her warm brown eyes. 

"Fine." Levi shrugged. "It's just... hearing about my time with Mike still bothers me a bit." 

"Sorry," Erwin said, looking so contrite that Levi almost felt guilty for making him feel like he did something worth apologizing for. "I just assumed that since it's been so long since you two broke up, you were probably over it by now." 

"It's not that," the raven said with a shake of his head. "I am over it. That's not what bothers me." 

Hanji was quick to move to his side and start rubbing up and down his arm in a soothing gesture. "Do you wanna talk about it?" 

"There's nothing to talk about. I just hate bringing up anything about my past. With Mike, I'm just reminded of how I was a failure as a boyfriend."

"Levi, that was twelve years ago. You were young and in a bad place in your life. It wasn't your fault things didn't work out." Erwin reasoned. 

"Yeah, you've grown so much since then and you're in a much better state of mind compared to back then. Mike doesn't hold anything against you, and if he did, I'm sure he's gotten over it by now." Laughed Hanji. 

"I guess." Levi mumbled. "I still think it's a bad idea for Mike and I to be in the same room for too long though. Especially out of the work place." 

"Stop worrying," the blond smiled warmly. "I think you just need to talk to Mike and see for yourself that he doesn't want you to keep avoiding him outside of work. Besides, you said so yourself, it's not like you're still hung up on him." 

"How could he be." Hanji snorted. "He's got Eren to make goo goo eyes at now." 

"About that..." Levi said, his cheeks heating up slightly at the memory of yesterday and their almost kiss. Just hearing Eren's name was enough to get his heart hammering in his chest and that familiar tingling electricity humming underneath his skin, though without the brunet's actual physical presence there to charge it, it was more like a low hum. "I met up with Eren yesterday." 

"You what?" the couple said in perfect unison. 

Cheeks flaming, the raven took a long sip of his wine and cleared his throat awkwardly. "He asked me to meet him yesterday afternoon at Rockefeller Center." 

At his pause, Hanji inhaled deeply and waited for him to continue. When Levi took his sweet time, she lost any patience she may have claimed to have and groaned loudly. 

"AND!? You can't just start a story and then leave us hanging like that, Levi! I'm pregnant for goodness sake!" 

"Tch, I was getting there, four-eyes. Don't fucking rush me or I won't tell you about it at all." 

"Sorry, sorry, but I'm just so surprised! Eren asked you out? Like on a date!?" 

"Sure sounds that way." Erwin said with a smug smirk. "But, Levi, please don't rile my pregnant wife up." 

"Whatever. Anyway, so, he called me and asked me to meet him yesterday and obviously I was a little suspicious because he wanted to meet me at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve? Why wouldn't I be. But, turns out the brat wanted to see me so he could give me a birthday present." 

At the mention of his gift, the corners of Levi's lips curled up slightly and he did his best to hide this behind the rim of his wine glass but he was sure that Erwin and Hanji could still see his smile for what it was. 

"Oh. My. God. That's so sweet! What did he give you?!" Hanji asked, big eyes sparkling with excitement. 

"Earmuffs." 

"Wait..." Erwin said, suddenly looking very suspicious of Levi. "You don't mean... the earmuffs you were wearing when you got here?" 

"You brought them with you!? I have to get a better look at them." Hanji suddenly bolted off toward the foyer to no doubt rifle through Levi's things for the earmuffs that Eren gifted to him, but Levi couldn't really bring himself to care... much. 

"Oi, don't touch them with your grubby hands, shitty-glasses!" 

"I thought it was strange that you were wearing those when you got here." Erwin laughed. "I never would have expected you to buy yourself earmuffs despite all your constant complaining about the cold hurting your ears." 

"Shut up." Was all Levi could say as he continued to try hiding his flaming face behind a wine glass. 

"OH MY GOSH, THESE ARE ADORABLE. Eren has good taste!" Hanji's voice carried from the foyer, prompting the raven to roll his eyes and Erwin to grin from ear to ear. 

"So? That's all you and Eren did yesterday?"

Levi eyed Erwin cautiously before he shrugged a shoulder lazily, "No. We spent some time together." 

"So... like a date." 

"Goddamn it, shut up." 

"Was there Ice skating?" 

"..." 

At Levi's telling silence, Erwin's thick eyebrows flew up to his hairline before he was dissolving into laughter. "I don't believe you." he wheezed. 

"I have the fucking bump on the back of my head to prove it." Levi grumbled, reaching one of his hands up to rub gently at the back of his skull. "I fucking hate ice and snow." 

"Oh, you're serious? Wow, Levi. You actually went ice skating willingly?" 

"Sure, lets put it your way." he shrugged. 

"But... you _hate_ ice and snow!" 

"No fucking shit, Sherlock. Thanks for repeating what I've only been saying every winter for the last sixteen years since we've known each other." 

"I just... wow... I have no words. Eren's a miracle worker?" 

At Erwin's question, Levi snorted into his glass but the rhetorical question got him to smirk anyway. "Miracle worker or not, yesterday was the first and last time I ever go ice skating at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve."

\- X -

After another few minutes of Hanji and Erwin hounding him about his afternoon with Eren the day previous, Levi finally managed to escape the annoyingly overbearing couple and made his way back to the sitting room where Mike was still glued to the couch, his glass of eggnog mysteriously refilled and his attention fully focused on some football game of some team Levi didn't care to know.

"I see some things about you haven't changed since College, Mike. You still have your ass glued to a couch while watching sports." 

"Hn," Mike grunted before he finished watching the last play. Levi lingered in the doorway for a moment or two, hesitating and debating on whether this was a good idea or not. Mike didn't give him the chance to flee this time, however. "Sit down. You're making me uncomfortable just looking at you standing there." 

"Tch, I'll sit when I'm damn well ready to." 

The blond snorted a laugh through his nose and smirked, "I see some things about _you_ haven't changed, either. Still stubborn and bullheaded." 

"Me, bullheaded?" the raven scoffed. "I think you have the wrong ex-lover, Zacharius." 

"Sure, Levi. Whatever you say." Intelligent green eyes locked onto Levi's stormy grays and the raven could tell Mike was up to something. "So, you and the Jaeger kid, huh?" 

Rolling his eyes, Levi took another sip of his wine before he slowly entered the room and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch Mike was sitting on. The raven was extremely careful not to splash any wine on his clothes, seeing as he was wearing one of his favorite [outfits](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/8b/26/85/8b268553840d4d202a05c816f89709a2.jpg) for this annoying occasion. Just because he hated to celebrate his birthday didn't mean he couldn't look nice while hating it.

"Don't act like Erwin and Hanji haven't clued you in on what's really going on between Eren and I." 

"Fair enough," Mike said. "Still, I can't help but notice the way you both look at each other. For a fake relationship, you really know how to sell yourselves." 

"Who asked you, anyway?" the shorter male snapped. 

"No one, but I'd like to think that I'm still someone you trust, Levi." 

Whipping his head around to glare at Mike and give him a piece of his mind, Levi saw the open and genuine look of sincerity on Mike's face, a look that gave Levi plenty of wonderful flashbacks of long conversations in the dark through heated touches and labored breathing. The unexpected memory had Levi snapping his mouth shut while his eyes looked down at the sand-colored carpet beneath his feet. He swallowed quietly and wished Mike hadn't brought up this topic. 

"... You are." he said quietly, almost reluctantly. "I just figured―"

"You figured I didn't care anymore after we broke up. Well, after _you_ broke up with me." At Mike's words, Levi turned his head away slightly in shame. "You always were quick to jump to conclusions when it came to our relationship, Levi." 

"That's ancient history, Mike. Why the fuck are you bringing this up now of all times when you haven't said anything in the past twelve years?" 

"Because you haven't shown any romantic interest in anyone in the past twelve years since we've dated... until now, that is." 

Levi turned his head to properly face Mike, his face carefully blank of any expression, his eyes narrowing and eyeing the larger blond suspiciously. Just what kind of game was Mike playing with him right now? There was no fucking way he was still interested in Levi romantically anymore, yet his words confused the raven. 

"What are you getting at?" 

"Look, Levi." Mike sighed. "Back in college, You were a completely different person back then, always so guarded and self-deprecating, even around me." 

Levi couldn't help but scoff, "Not much has changed there. I'm still the same anxious, insecure bastard that I've always been. The only difference is I'm twelve years closer to death." 

"Maybe that's true," Mike snorted. "But let's be honest, you're in a much better place in your life now compared to back then. I know we don't talk anymore, but I'd like to think I'm the only person who really knows you."

"You're not just saying that because we used to fuck, are you?" the raven grumbled.

That earned a smirk from the burly blond, "I'm saying that _because_ we used to fuck." he joked. "But seriously, Levi. I notice things, I always have. I may not say anything but I do notice and in the last three years I've seen quite a change in you."

"Like what?" Levi asked cautiously. He suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach that told him this conversation was probably a bad idea.

The blond shrugged a massive shoulder lazily, "At first, I couldn't really tell if it was just my imagination but seeing you and the Jaeger kid interacting the last month pretty much proved my theory correct." 

"Now you're coming up with _theories_? What is the world coming to?" 

"You're in love with him." 

Silence hung heavily between the two men as they simply stared at each other, Mike smirking smugly and Levi expressionless but clearly growing annoyed. The blond could tell by the way the crease between Levi's brows crinkled further and the very subtle twitch underneath his right eye.

"Don't be fucking stupid, Mike." Levi growled dangerously. "Did Hanji and Erwin not clue you into the fact that Eren and I are only making nice because we have to? None of it's real." 

"You can't even own up to the fact that you're in love with him and _I'm_ the stupid one?" Mike mumbled quietly. "Don't try to lie to me, Ackerman. You look at Eren the same way you used to look at me back in Junior year―actually, no, scratch that. You look at him like he's the goddamn Sun personified." 

"What the hell are you even talking about, Mike? Have you finally lost it? I am not in love with Eren, shit, for the first two and half years of having him work for me I couldn't even stand to be in the same room with him for longer than necessary." 

"Okay, so maybe it wasn't love at first sight but you've got to admit, you've been obsessed with that kid ever since he first walked into your office for that interview." Hazel eyes studied Levi's expression carefully and it was obvious now that Mike was starting to unnerve Levi with his groundbreaking revelation. It wasn't easy to unnerve Levi Ackerman. 

"What―How does that―?" To see the ever unflappable Levi utterly at a loss for words was a little too amusing and Mike made sure to drink it all in because even this reaction was added proof to his previous statement. "Explain how me _hating_ Eren's guts for the first two years means I'm suddenly in love with the kid, Zacharius." 

"Levi," Mike sighed heavily again. "Are you really asking me that right now? Think of it this way; if you really hated Eren as much as you said you did, then why didn't you fire him the first chance you got? According to you, you've had every reason to fire him since day one and yet here he his three years later still working for you."

"You're full of shit, Mike." the raven snorted. "That doesn't prove anything." 

"Face it, Ackerman. You've kept that kid around because you enjoy having his company."

Levi and Mike continued to stare each other down as the raven tried to come to terms with Mike's theory. Maybe it wasn't so far fetched but Levi refused to believe that he was _in love_ with the brat. Sure, he had already reasoned with himself that he definitely cared about Eren more than he probably should, but that didn't necessarily mean it was love. As though reading his mind, Mike spoke again. 

"You care about him, right?" 

Licking his lips, Levi nodded his head slowly. "Of course, I do." 

"You enjoy spending time with him, right?" Another nod of Levi's head. "Okay, now how would you feel if I were to ask you to imagine Eren being with someone else?" At the sharp look in Levi's eyes and the frown that was immediately plastered on his face, Mike smirked. "No need to answer. I already know how you feel about it." 

"That still doesn't prove anything." Levi spat.

"Look, I'm not trying to upset you. I'm just telling you what I've seen for myself. As someone who you formerly used to date, and for a whole year, mind you, I just figured that out of anyone else, I'd be the most credible source for you to hear this from." Mike sniffed. "Despite what you like to believe, you're a romantic at heart and you always have been." 

"Oh, shut up, what do you know?" In a very childish move, Levi crossed his arms over his chest and sunk as deep as he could into the back of the couch until he was all but slouching back.

"I know that you're desperately in love with your assistant and you maybe wanna grow old with him." 

"... I'm not drunk enough to deal with you and your shit." huffed Levi indignantly. 

"Perhaps." 

Silence dominated between them once more, but this time Mike didn't bother lingering on the uncomfortable topic, choosing to turn his attention back to the giant television screen. Still, Levi's thoughts were plagued by Mike's words. 

"Eren!" Hanji's voice chirped jovially. Levi's heart immediately leaped out of his chest and he sat forward so quickly that he got a little bit of a head rush. "We're so glad you could make it!" 

"I hope I'm not intruding?" Eren's polite but slightly sheepish voice carried into the sitting room. As if Levi's heart wasn't already doing an entire olympic gymnastic routine, at the sound of Eren's voice, his heart just about exploded. "I brought a pie." 

"Ooh, look sugar bear, it's your favorite pie, too!" 

"Apple pie is my weakness, I'm afraid." Levi heard Erwin sigh. 

"Come in, come in! Merry Levi-mas!" 

Eren's laughter had the raven's heart soaring like a great bald fucking eagle, he didn't care how patriotic that sounded, it was the only comparison his mushy brain could make at the time. 

"Merry Levi-mas." Eren chuckled. 

The sound of shuffling footsteps dancing around in the foyer and then eventually leading toward the sitting room had Levi's heart pounding in a mixture of eager anticipation and nervous anxiety. He hadn't expected to see Eren again so soon, especially considering how they left things between them the night before. That eager anticipation soon faded into pure dreadful anxiety as Levi wondered what Eren's reaction to seeing him again would be. It was so obvious that he had tried to kiss him last night after the brunet had walked him to his door, there was no way Levi could just play that off as anything else.

There was muffled chit-chat heard and several soft footfalls that told Levi Eren was accompanied by the couple, which Levi wasn't sure if he was grateful for or not. His palms were sweating and he suddenly wished he had bolted out of the room to avoid this entire situation. Eren was probably going to think he was some creepy old man who tried to kiss him and then chickened out at the last second and he'll probably avoid him. 

"Calm down." Mike said quietly, earning him Levi's full panicked attention. "You're freaking out. I can tell." 

"Fuck you, no, I'm not." the raven hissed back, his hands wringing together despite his words. 

"Wow. You've really got it bad. I've never seen you so nervous before." 

"Mike, I swear to fuck, if you don't stop talking I'm going to shove that entire christmas tree up your ass, lights, tinsel and all." 

"Point taken." 

Finally, when Hanji and Erwin entered the sitting room with Eren following not too far behind, Levi felt his breath catch in his throat at the very sight of the brunet who's eyes immediately locked onto his upon entering. Well, there was probably no doubting his feelings about Eren after this. Seeing the younger man walk in [wearing](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/d9/31/ee/d931ee30ec8aba62165fc4bc70c428de.jpg) a very fitted collared long sleeved shirt, dark grey in color and hugging Eren in all the right places, a pair of charcoal slacks and that familiar chord necklace around his neck, well, Levi's mind successfully shut down. He was fucked. He was so terribly fucked. 

"Levi," Eren said, a sweet smile making itself known on his handsome face as his eyes stayed glued to the raven's sitting form. "Merry Christmas." The blush coloring his tanned cheeks was just overkill to Levi's already tortured heart. 

"Oh, geez." Levi distantly heard Mike mumble under his breath. 

"Eren," the older man nearly sighed. "What... are you doing here?" Shit. No. That's not what he meant to say. 

Teal eyes looked down at the floor shyly while Eren rubbed at the back of his neck, a familiar nervous habit of his. "Hanji invited me. I'm spending Christmas alone this year, so, I thought I'd drop by and see some friendly faces." he explained. 

"... I see." 

Hanji suddenly wrapped an arm around Eren's shoulders and started guiding him toward the couch, "Take a load off, Eren. Relax! Our casa es su casa!" 

"You drink wine, right, Eren?" Erwin asked, already making his way out of the living room toward the kitchen. 

"Oh, um, yes." the brunet answered hastily before he was manhandled into sitting in the middle of the couch between Levi and Mike.

"There we go! I'm going to go put that pie of yours away for safe keeping until we're ready to eat it later." 

When Hanji and Erwin left the room, Levi realized just how awkward this whole situation was. Being alone with Mike, his ex-lover from college and Eren, his current... um, well, he still wasn't quite sure what to consider Eren as at this point. Fake Fiance? He supposed that would have to do. 

"Jaeger." Mike's deep baritone finally broke the silence. Levi could tell that the sudden sound of Mike's voice addressing his nervous assistant clearly startled Eren. 

"M-Mr. Zacharius. Nice to see you, sir. Merry Christmas." the brunet fumbled with his words. 

"Just Mike. Merry Christmas." 

As silence fell over the three of them once more, Mike's phone beeped in his pocket and he was quick to pull it out and check the screen. 

"Nanaba's outside. She says she needs help getting some things down. Tell Erwin and Hanji, would you?" the burly blond said as he stood up from his seat and smoothed down the front of his tacky sweater. 

"Tch, do it yourself. You're already up, Zacharius." 

Mike, the giant shit that he could be, simply looked back and smirked at him before he was disappearing out of the sitting room and making his way back toward the foyer. Levi wasn't sure if he preferred being alone with both Mike and Eren or just Eren. Both options were pretty awkward, no matter how he looked at it. 

"Are Mike and Nanaba...?" Eren asked, letting his question hang in the air for a moment while looking over at Levi curiously. 

"Mm. You didn't know?" 

"Well, they're both so professional at work but I kind of had my suspicions." 

Levi hummed again but silence once again hung heavily between them after that little exchange. He couldn't remember it being this hard to just _talk_ to Eren in the last couple of weeks. They did it every morning walking into work together and they talked during and after work as well. Sometimes, Eren would text or call him during the weekend to ask him something mundane and useless and they'd end up talking for an hour or two before Levi even realized it. So, why was it suddenly so hard to start a conversation with him now? 

He couldn't help but blame Mike for why he was suddenly so self-conscious around the brunet now. All his talk about being in love with the kid had Levi on edge and hyper aware of everything he or Eren did. 

"So... you're spending Christmas alone, you said?" Levi asked, trying for casual and nonchalant but knowing he didn't quite pull it off the way he wanted to. 

"Yeah, I did." 

"That's... odd." the raven said, earning him a questioning look from Eren in the process. "I mean, I figured you'd be spending the holidays with your parents or something." 

"Ah, yeah, about that." the younger man chuckled nervously. "I might have implied that you and I wanted to spend Christmas alone... together." Slowly, one of Levi's thin brows lifted asking all the questions he dared not ask out loud. "I mean, um, I just thought it would be better if I said that so, uhm, you know, they wouldn't invite us to spend Christmas with them and then it would be the trip to Germany all over again." Eren hastily explained, looking very flustered.

"Oh." Levi realized. "Right. Good thinking." 

"Yeah... I figured you probably wouldn't be up for another visit with my parents, considering how _fantastically_ well our first visit went." 

"Oh, I don't know." Levi shrugged, suddenly feeling confident and playful, though he couldn't understand why. "I actually enjoyed spending time with your mother. She was very sweet." 

"And my dad?" Eren asked with a knowing smirk. 

"Him, too. You know, after he warmed up to me, that is." 

"Oh, geez." the brunet laughed. "Yeah, he did like a total 180 on our last day in Germany. It was so weird." 

"What can I say?" Levi said with a tiny little smirk of his own. "Parents love me, I guess?" 

He found that Eren's laughter made that familiar feeling of warmth blossom in his chest as he watched the wide grin spread across his Assistant's face. If he could see that smile on Eren's face everyday and hear that bright laugh, well, he supposed he could die a very happy man and this thought only seemed to make him realize that, maybe Mike was right. Maybe it wasn't exactly love, not quite yet. Levi wasn't prepared to admit that part to himself yet but he certainly felt a strong certain _something_ for Eren and it was only growing the more time he spent with him.

\- X -

Later that evening, Levi found himself sitting alone with Hanji and Nanaba in the living room, a glass of wine in his hand a glass of cranberry juice in hers while Nanaba nursed a glass Hanji's infamous eggnog in her own hands. Erwin and Mike had managed to successfully wrangle Eren into a game of table tennis and they could hear the three men getting a bit worked up over whoever was winning or losing. By the sounds of it, Erwin was winning, again. What was new?

"So, Hanji, do you know when you're due yet?" Nanaba asked. 

"Yup! Should be in June at the earliest and July at the latest!" the brunette chirped cheerfully. She rubbed at her very tiny baby bump that was slowly but surely starting to grow in size each week. It was still very hard to tell, but Hanji made sure to let everyone know that she was indeed very pregnant. In fact, she never seemed to miss a chance to tell everyone of the good news. 

"That's so exciting." the blonde sitting across from them sighed. "I want one too." 

"Well, you know, Nanaba. Erwin and I could help you and Mike look into adopting. We did a lot of research and interviewed with a lot of agencies, filled out tons of applications." 

"Tch, all that paperwork shit is all just a formality. Adoption Agencies will let the crappiest of people adopt children, so, you and Mike are sure to get approved." Levi scoffed with a disgusted curl of his upper lip. 

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You used to be an orphan, right, Levi?" Nanaba asked softly. 

The raven shrugged, "Yeah, so, unfortunately I know better than anyone how the system works. I helped Erwin and Hanji out when they were trying to adopt." 

"Yeah! He was a HUGE help! Actually, we'll probably still adopt after we have our baby." 

"Seriously?" Levi asked, sounding almost surprised but masking it well. 

"Mhm. We know how much it means to you that we adopt, so, Erwin and I talked about it and we're definitely still going through with it. We have a lot of love to give and besides!" Hanji rubbed at her stomach and beamed from ear to ear. "It'll be nice to have older siblings for the baby." 

"That's..." unable to voice the strange emotion he was suddenly feeling, Levi simply placed his hand on top of Hanji's that was resting on her stomach. "That's great." 

"Of course, munchkin! We love you and you know Erwin and I have always wanted a big family. This pregnancy was blessing but adopting is still good too." 

"Right," Nanaba smiled warmly. "The doctor's at the fertility clinic said you only had a ten percent chance of successfully conceiving, right? That's incredible." 

"Yeah..." Hanji sniffled, her eyes glossing over with tears which she quickly tried wiping away with her fingers. "We'd almost given up on trying but, you know me." she laughed. "I'm not a quitter and neither is Erwin, but, he was completely prepared to accept the fact that we might never get pregnant. He's been so wonderful and supportive. Oh, god, I love him so much!" 

Tears started to freely flow from Hanji's eyes but Levi could tell that they were happy tears. Sighing through his nose, the raven scooted closer to Hanji's side and wiped away some of the tears that streaked her cheeks. 

"You're such a cry baby when you're pregnant." he grumbled quietly, but it was all in jest. 

Hanji chuckled but swatted at him regardless, "Hey, no uterus, no opinion, mister." 

"AND JAEGER WINS IT ALL!!" Mike's voice boomed from down the hall, startling the trio in the living room. 

Nanaba smiled fondly with a shake of her head, "Well, I see the boys are having fun." 

"At least they're not sitting around crying, like me." Hanji grinned. 

"Morons. It's just ping-pong." Levi scoffed. 

"Aww, are you upset because you lost to Erwin the last time you two played?" the brunette cooed. 

"He fucking cheated, that big blond bastard. I won that game fair and square." 

"No, you didn't." Erwin's smug voice joined in as the three men all filed into the room, each one looking a little flustered and sweaty. "You're just a sore loser." 

"Fuck you, Smith. I'll remember that the next time you invite me over to play poker." Levi sneered.

Erwin simply shrugged and rounded the corner of the couch to lean down and place a loving kiss on Hanji's forehead. He quickly noticed the drying tear tracks on her cheeks and he was immediately frowning. 

"Hey, were you two making my wife cry?" he accused with a thick eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"It's alright, honey. They were happy tears, I promise." 

The blond looked to Levi for confirmation on this matter and the raven simply rolled his eyes. It wasn't hard to tell that Erwin was silently blaming him for making Hanji cry when in truth it was kind of Nanaba's fault. He wasn't about to start pointing fingers, though. They weren't a bunch of children at a playground.

"Um, where's the bathroom?" Eren asked, looking very contrite for interrupting. 

"Oh, there's one right down that hall where you're standing, cutie pie. Just go straight and hang a right." Hanji explained helpfully. 

"Thanks." 

As soon as Eren was gone and the sound of a door clicking shut down the hall was heard, the group of grown ass adults all starting smirking at Levi who sunk a little lower into the couch cushions. With any luck, he'd be swallowed inside the couch and wouldn't have to deal with all his friends and their dumb bullshit. 

"What?" he growled out irritably. 

"Eren's quite the guy." Erwin said. "He managed to beat me at table tennis." 

"You know, calling it "table tennis" doesn't change the fact that it's still Ping-pong, eyebrows." Levi said. 

"I couldn't believe he actually beat Erwin." Mike joined in, sounding just the tiniest bit impressed which was a hard thing to do. Impressing Mike was like trying to turn water into wine. "Maybe we should invite him to our poker game. I'm curious to see how he'd hold up against the King of Bluffs." 

"Table tennis and Poker are two completely different things, Mike." Erwin sniffed, puffing out his chest in a show of confidence. "I'm extremely confident in my skills at Poker. I can't lose." 

"I think the only other person on level with you would be Levi, hon. His Poker face is flawless, after all." Hanji cackled. 

"True." 

"So, how about it, Levi?" Mike asked. "Can we include the kid in our next Poker game?" 

"Do whatever you want." Levi huffed, taking a long sip of his wine before standing up from his place on the couch and walking toward the doorway. "It's not like Eren needs my permission. He can do whatever he wants."

"Need your permission for what?" Eren asked, nearly bumping into Levi as they met in the hallway. 

Gray eyes blinked and took in the broad chest that suddenly appeared before him. Then, they slowly trailed upward until Levi's eyes met with Eren's curiously bright eyes and his charming lopsided grin. 

The older man quickly cleared his throat and looked away, "Erwin and Mike want you to play poker with us." 

"Oh, um, well, sure. If you're okay with that." 

"Why wouldn't I be okay with that?" Levi asked with a halfhearted shrug. "If you want to play with us, then do it. If you don't, don't. It's simple." 

"Alright." Eren smiled. "Then, I will." 

At the sound of Erwin clearing his throat, both men turned to looked back at the group who were all suddenly smiling knowingly at them. 

"Um, guys?" Hanji sang. "Look up from where you're standing." 

In unison, Levi and Eren looked up to see mistletoe hanging perfectly over their heads. 

"Oh..." Eren said quietly before Levi heard him gulp. Their eyes met and Levi could see the nervous look in the brunet's eyes as Eren stared at him and then at his lips. 

Maybe it was the six glasses of wine talking, but Levi couldn't help but smirk as he easily angled his body so that he was facing Eren properly. 

"Don't tell me you're nervous about kissing me now, Jaeger? Not after all the kisses we've shared thus far." he teased in a low voice. 

Like a charm, it worked and Eren was soon straightening up and bristling slightly at the taunt. Good. That was exactly what it was intended to do. But, Levi wasn't about to let Eren start mouthing off to him. In a movement that was just a little too quick for Eren to follow, Levi surged up on his toes and planted a kiss dangerously close to Eren's mouth just as the brunet was about to protest. The unexpected kiss to the corner of his lips effectively shut the younger man up as he simply stood there and stared at Levi stunned once the shorter man had leaned back to his previous position. 

"There. A kiss. Are all you assholes happy?" 

"Noo!" Hanji moaned. "That wasn't a _REAL_ kiss, Levi!" 

"What are you talking about, four eyes? A kiss is a kiss. There's no rule that says it has to be on the lips." Levi frowned. 

"But, Levi!" she whined. 

Sucking his teeth in annoyance, Levi was just about ready to turn and head for the kitchen when Eren gently grabbed him by his shoulder and stopped him from moving. It happened so fast that Levi almost wasn't sure what was even happening when Eren leaned down and place a sweet kiss on his left cheek. When the younger man pulled away, his cheeks were impossibly red. 

"Awww." the group in the living room cooed and that only served to make Eren's blush reach up to the very tips of his ears. 

"Uhm, it's getting a little late." Eren said, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck as he so often tended to do when he was nervous or uncomfortable. "I think I should be heading out now before the snow builds up on the roads." 

"Oh, no, do you really have to go, Eren? We haven't exchanged gifts yet." Erwin asked. 

"Well... I suppose I could stick around for a little while but afterwards, I should really get home." 

"Great! Honey bear, go get the gifts from under the tree, will you?" 

And that was how Levi ended up walking Eren to the door half an hour later with a small handful of gifts in his arms. Hanji and Erwin had given Eren a new leather satchel bag and little glass ornament with the words "Merry Levi-mas! 2016!" printed on the front of it. The outside of the glass ornament was painted silver and blue, two of Levi's favorite colors. Everyone got one, even Levi. 

As the two men stood in the foyer, Eren shrugged his parka coat on over his shoulders and wrapped his scarf snug around his neck as well. Levi leaned against the banister of the staircase simply watching the brunet with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet bare. He'd removed his shoes sometime in the last hour, preferring to be bare foot. 

"Thanks for having me over." Eren said with that oh so gorgeous smile of his that never failed to make Levi feel just a little weak in the knees. "I had a great time." 

"Whoa, hey, don't thank me." Levi snorted. "Hanji's the one who invited you, after all." Kicking himself mentally for saying the wrong thing, _again_ , Levi cleared his throat and shifted his weight over from foot to foot. "But, I'm glad you came." 

Stopping his movements to stare at Levi, Eren's eyes softened and his smile grew. "Yeah?" he asked.

The raven wished he could decipher what that particular look in Eren's eyes meant because it was driving him insane trying to figure it out. That look made Levi's insides warm up and it lit a small beacon of hope in his chest, fueled a million "Maybe's" and 'What if's. But that small inkling of hope he felt growing in his chest was always crushed and smothered by his lingering insecurities and fear. 

Swallowing thickly, Levi nodded. "Yeah." 

"Then, I'm glad I came too." Eren finished arming himself against the late December chill outside and opened the front door about ready to take his leave. Levi shivered at the blast of cold air that hit him. "I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

"Naturally." Levi smirked. "Get home safe, Jaeger. If you're not at my apartment by 8am tomorrow, I'll come and get your ass myself." 

Eren barked out a laugh that warmed Levi's very soul, "Gotcha, Boss!" 

Then, Levi was watching as Eren hurried down the cement pathway to the taxi cab that was waiting for him on the curbside. Before he slid into the car, Eren turned around one last time and smiled and waved at Levi before he was getting into the cab and slamming the door behind him. Levi inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly and heavily, the cold winter air hurting his lungs but it was nothing compared to the dull ache in his heart at watching Eren go. 

Shutting the door, Levi slowly walked back to the sitting room where Mike was dozing off in Erwin's recliner and Nanaba was curled up in his lap wrapped up in the scarf and mittens Hanji claimed she knitted herself. Levi didn't buy that. The work was way too neat and perfect. 

Erwin was sitting in the middle of their sectional with Hanji curled close into his side and one of his arms wrapped protectively around Hanji's shoulders. All but dragging his feet, Levi approached the couch and abruptly plopped himself down in Erwin's lap earning him a strained grunt from the blond under him. 

"Levi..." he wheezed. "You know I love you but, I'm married." 

Ignoring the larger man's protests, Levi leaned to the side and stretched his body out until his lower body was in Erwin's lap and his upper body was resting on Hanji's with his head in her lap. Hanji was quick to start running her fingers through his silky hair until she was outright stroking it. Leave it to Hanji and Erwin not to question things when he got like this. He wasn't quite drunk, but something close to it. 

"I think I'm falling in love with Eren." he mumbled quietly. Just saying it out loud was hard enough.

"We know, sweetie." Hanji sighed. "We know." 

Thankfully, Hanji and Erwin didn't linger on the subject. They seemed content enough to simply provide a physical comfort for their oldest and dearest friend as he drifted off into a light snooze, any thoughts of his complicated feelings for Eren momentarily forgotten as he allowed himself the comfort of darkness and sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to formally apologize to you guys for being M.I.A. when it comes to updating this fic for the last few weeks. My life has been efficiently ruined by Dragon Age: Inquisition and just... yeah, I've done nothing but play DA:I and come up with shit for my Inquisitor and all those precious idiots. (Especially Iron Bull and Dorian~ <3) 
> 
> Also, my Waifu Paula would like to issue a formal apology for getting me into these games in the first place. But, don't be too hard on her, lmao I still love her <333


	18. And you're the only thing going on in my head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _'♪ I should be the one to hold you close Sunday morning all day_   
>  _I can see it in your eyes, I can see without compromise, You're all I need ♪'_
> 
>  
> 
> **Cellar - Anthony Green**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Levi just can't catch a break TT u TT Here are guys, chapter 18! I really like this chapter for several reasons.

Monday morning found Eren bursting into Levi's office looking harried and winded, face a bit red and breathing heavy and labored. The raven cocked an eyebrow at Eren's abrupt and startling entrance, but the brunet simply shook his head rapidly from side to side and did his best to catch his breath and speak. 

"Not... good... Mom... Dad... here... coming up the elevators!" 

"What?" Levi growled. "Here as in _in_ the building?" Eren nodded his head and Levi hissed out a curse. 

"What do we do?" his assistant asked, eyes shifting back and forth between Levi and the elevators. "I didn't think they'd actually come to New York just to―"

"Sonnenschein!" Carla's sweet voice called. 

"M-Mom! Dad!" Eren greeted with mild hysteria in his voice. "W-What are you doing here?" 

"What? Can't we come and visit our only son during the holidays?" Levi could hear Grisha's stern voice say next. 

"Where's Levi?" Carla asked. 

"Um, he's in his office right now, Mom. It's really not a good time―"

With plenty of haste, Levi shot up from his desk chair and took several large steps until he was standing at the threshold of his office door. Eren and his parents were standing by his desk with Carla hugging her son and smoothing down his wind-swept hair while Grisha stood a little off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. 

"Mr and Mrs. Jaeger." Levi greeted civilly. 

"Mäuschen!" Releasing Eren from her loving embrace, Carla started straight for Levi and held her arms open as she approached. "I thought I told you to call me Carla."

When he was wrapped in the older woman's warm arms and squeezed, Levi was surprised when he felt himself smile against her cheek and raise an arm to hug her back lightly. There truly was nothing like hugs from a Jaeger, he supposed. 

"Of course, I'm sorry." 

"No worries, Mäuschen." 

When he was finally released from Carla's hug, he was quickly approached by Grisha who thrust a hand out for him to shake. 

"Levi." he greeted curtly, but the raven could see the small little playful twinkle in his grey-green eyes. 

"Dr. Jaeger." Levi nodded as he shook the older man's hand firmly. 

Hearing quite murmurs around them, Levi and Eren looked around the bullpen to see some of the few people who actually came into work that week gawking at the exchange happening. Gunther and Eld were huddled around the water cooler with Oluo and elbowing each other in the sides while whispering among themselves, no doubt having a cow over seeing their ever stern and no-nonsense Boss playing nice with the parents of his "Fiance". 

Clearing his throat, Levi adjusted the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and took a couple of steps aside while he gestured toward his office door with a sweep of his hand. 

"Please, make yourselves comfortable in my office." he said. "I'll be in with you in a minute." 

Eren flashed him a questioning look and Levi jerked his head in the direction of the small growing huddle near the water cooler. Realizing that Levi was about to remind his nosy subordinates who was still Boss and in charge, a little smirk grew on his handsome face and he shook his head fondly. 

"Mom, Dad, can I get you guys anything while Levi's gone?"

"Nonsense, Eren. We didn't come here to impose. We came here to speak with you two." 

Well, Levi certainly didn't like the sound of that. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him he should expect something bad to happen, though he promptly squashed it down as he straightened his back and turned on the sole of his boot to address the slackers congregating at the water cooler to gossip. 

"Hey," he called in a sharp tone and a snap of his fingers, catching every single person's attention as several pairs of wide eyes turned to stare at him. "I'm not paying everyone to stand around the water cooler to chit-chat." 

In any other situation, the raven might have found it just a little comical the way everyone began to scramble to their desks. Having taken care of that little problem, Levi smoothed out his blazer and turned to enter his office when he was suddenly approached by Oluo of all people. The man seemed to fidget under Levi's glare before he gestured at some papers in his hands. 

"Um, I'm sorry if this is a bad time, Mr. Ackerman―" 

"It is a bad time, Oluo. Whatever it is, be quick." 

"... Actually, it can wait until later, sir. S-Sorry to bother you." 

Levi watched for a moment as Oluo scurried off back to his desk and he did one final sweep of the floor before he turned and entered his office, shutting the door gently behind him. Once inside, he realized that Carla and Grisha had seen that entire exchange with his subordinates and Eren was looking a little shy and embarrassed as he stood awkwardly next to Levi's desk. 

"I see you run a tight ship, Levi." Grisha spoke first, his tone slightly impressed if not approving. 

"Indeed." Carla giggled. "It's not wonder Eren speaks so highly of you whenever I asked about work." 

Well, that surprised Levi. Grey eyes flashed over to the brunet who blushed and looked away when their eyes met. "Is that so?" Levi said in a pleased sort of hum. 

"Oh, yes. He would complain about the long hours but he always talked about how much he respected your professionalism." 

"Mom..." Eren grumbled quietly, his cheeks absolutely flaming.

"That's funny," the raven smirked. "I was so sure you hated me the first two years you worked for me, Jaeger." 

Fidgeting in his spot, the younger man fiddled with a lock of his hair; a new and interesting nervous tic that Levi was all too eager to memorize now that it had made itself known. "Well, _Hate_ is a strong word." 

Rounding his desk, Levi reached for Eren's free hand that was dangling at his side and gripped it gently with his before lifting it up to kiss at his knuckles. "Whatever you say, _darling_."

"Oh." Carla giggled. "It looks like spending Christmas alone together worked out well for our boys." 

"Now, Carla." Grisha smiled, reaching over to pat his wife on the knee. "Let's not embarrass them further. We came here for a reason, after all." 

"Right," Eren snapped, seeming to remember that they weren't alone. Levi released his hand and took his seat at his desk before directing all his attention to the older couple sitting across from him. "Dad was saying how he left Armin in charge of the practice in Shiganshina. Was that really necessary?"

"Of course," the older brunet sniffed. "I know I tend to be a stickler when it comes to taking time off work, but, your mother insisted we come back to New York to spend some time with you two." 

"Wait..." the younger Jaeger said sounding slightly suspicious. "Just... how _long_ are you planning on staying?" he asked. 

"Well," Carla drawled. "If it's no trouble, we were hoping to stay with you two until New Year's day."

"But... that's a whole week." Eren gulped. "Seven days." 

"Yes, Eren." Grisha sighed. "Your mother and I are very aware of how long a week is. We did graduate High School, son." 

Levi tried to stifle his snort of laughter, but he was unsuccessful. He hadn't been expecting to hear sarcasm from Eren's overly serious father of all people, so it was really not his fault for being caught so off guard. Eren didn't seem pleased with him, however, if the irritable look he flashed Levi was anything to go by. 

"Ahem, it's no trouble at all." the raven said, leaning back in his chair looking the perfect picture of cool and calm despite their unexpected situation. Eren stared at him like he had just grown a second head. "However, please give Eren and I some time to go home and prepare." Grey eyes locked onto Eren's wide, bewildered gaze and he hoped the brunet would catch on to what he was trying to do. "I'm pretty sure we don't have a thing in the fridge, do we, Eren?" 

Levi watched as Eren's brows furrowed together in confusion and he waited patiently for realization to hit his Assistant. Thankfully, it didn't take very long at all and soon Eren's face was lighting up. 

"Right!" he nearly shouted. "Right, Levi and I spent Christmas at a friends house and we haven't gone grocery shopping at all." In one smooth step, Eren rounded Levi's desk and leaned down to place a kiss to one of the older man's temples. "Thank you for reminding, sweetie." 

"That's what I'm good at, Love." Levi hummed. "Now, you should probably take the rest of the day off to go home and make sure the guest room is fixed up."

"Right." Eren straightened up and glanced at his wrist watch. "It shouldn't take long but I still need to stop by the supermarket. Mom, Dad, do you mind waiting a couple of hours?" 

"Don't worry about us, Sonnenschein." Carla smiled sweetly. "Your father and I are grown ups. We can take care of ourselves for a couple of hours." 

"Actually," Levi said with a clearing of his throat. "I could give your parents a tour of the building while you're gone." he suggested. 

Eren gave him a grateful smile because he knew exactly what Levi was up to. The older man was going to try and buy him as much time as he needed to go to his apartment and set up all the pictures and things in the box hidden away in one of Levi's closets. The raven had never been more proud of himself for thinking it a good idea to save all of that just in case. He just didn't think they'd be needing to use the stuff in the box so soon. 

"Don't go out of your way for us, Levi." Grisha said with a frown. "You've clearly better things to do than show us around your work." 

"It's no bother at all," Levi said confidently. "It would actually be helping me out, you see. Erwin Smith, the CEO, is away for the holidays and technically the company is supposed to be closed as well but he makes exceptions for me and a few other departments who tend to work straight through the holidays." he explained. "Since he's away, he's left me in charge of overseeing the other departments. I need to make a few stops on some of other floors anyway so it'll be killing two birds with one stone." 

"Well, if you're sure showing us around for awhile won't be trouble for you, Mäuschen." Mrs. Jaeger worried. 

Levi flashed her a tiny reassuring smile. "I wouldn't have offered if it were, Carla." 

"Perfect. So, I'll go home and make sure we have everything you guys need and then when I come back, we'll take you back to the apartment, okay?" 

"Be careful, my love." Carla said just as Eren was about to leave the office. "Make sure you bundle up. It's freezing out there." 

Eren laughed as he made his leave, "I know, Mom."

\- X -

"The company is surprisingly bigger than I was expecting, Levi." Grisha commented over an hour later as Levi was finishing up the tour.

"We get that a lot." 

The trio came to a stop outside the elevators of the 30th floor, the floor with Erwin and Nile's office. When the doors opened, Levi allowed Grisha and Carla to enter first before he followed shortly after and pressed the button for the 26th floor. During the short ride down, Levi felt his phone buzz with a new text notification. Sliding his thumb across the lock screen, he noticed that it was from Eren. 

_Eren:_ Heading back to the office now. Be there in ten mins.

Sliding his phone back into the inner pocket of his blazer, Levi turned to address the older couple. "Eren should be here in ten minutes. He'll take you back to our apartment and you can both finally make yourselves comfortable." 

"I must be honest, Mäuschen. I was a little surprised to hear that you and Eren were living together. Neither of you mentioned this before." Carla pointed out, one of her full eyebrows lifting in curiosity. 

"It's still a new arrangement." Levi lied smoothly. "We're still getting some of Eren's things settled in but for the most part, he's been officially living with me for the better half of the last month." Well, at least this would give them an excuse for why Eren only had a few of his things at Levi's apartment without raising too many questions.

"And?" Grisha asked next, a little smirk of his own growing as he regarded the shorter raven. "How is it going so far?" 

Ah, this was a test, Levi realized. They were going to see if he had any complaints about some of Eren's living habits. He needed to choose his answer carefully. Luckily for him, he'd already gotten a small glimpse of what living with Eren would be like thanks to their trip to Germany.

"Well, Eren's surprisingly more tidy than I thought he was going to be." he admitted with a little smile. "I'm sure you're already aware of how high my standards are for keeping things clean. He meets those standards." 

Carla seemed to get a laugh out of that, "Oh, yes. We raised him to always keep his room as clean as possible and to never leave his clothes strewn about. I can't begin to tell you how many times I had to yell at him to clean his room when he was a teenager." 

"I'm sure I can imagine." the raven chuckled quietly. "I know exactly just how stubborn Eren can be." 

The elevator chimed alerting the group to their arrival at the 26th floor. Like before, when the doors opened Levi gestured for Carla and Grisha to step off the elevator first before he trailed after them and began leading them back through the bullpen toward his office. When they arrived at his door, Levi's phone began ringing forcing him to pull it out once more and check the screen. To his surprise, it was Erwin calling. 

"Excuse me. I have to step out for a minute and take this call." Levi explained.

"Of course, Mäuschen. Go, go. Don't worry about us." 

Nodding, Levi stepped out of his office once more and shut the door behind him as he walked off into one of the empty conference rooms to have this conversation with Erwin in private. 

"We've got a little bit of a problem here, Eyebrows." Levi answered. 

_"And Hello to you too, Levi."_ Erwin's voice crackled through the line. _"What is it? I was just calling to see how things were going at the office. I still can't believe you insist on working through Christmas Break."_

"Listen, Erwin. Eren's parents are here." 

_"What? How? Why?"_

"Well, if you'd shut up long enough for me to explain." Levi growled back. "Shit, you're getting as bad as Hanji, you know that?" 

_"Right, sorry, continue."_

Sighing, Levi started from the beginning. "...And now they're going to stay with us at my apartment for seven whole days and I have no idea what the fuck I'm going to do." 

_"Wow."_ was Erwin's unhelpful response. _"You're really in some deep trouble here, aren't you?"_

"No shit." Levi scoffed. 

_"Well, I guess you'll just have to let Eren stay with you for the week. You've really got no other options at this point."_

"Erwin. That was not part of the plan. Hell, none of this was part of the plan." the raven sighed as he slumped into a chair at the large conference table. He ran a hand through his fringe successfully pushing it back and out of his eyes as he did so. "This thing with Eren was only supposed to be a means to an end, a way for me to secure my spot on the creative team for the reeves campaign and instead it's turning into this big, gigantic pile of shit and I feel like I don't even know what I'm doing anymore." 

_"I thought we established this last night, Levi."_ he heard Erwin chuckle causing him to roll his eyes. _"Look, it's pretty obvious that this entire plan lost control the moment you agreed to it. It was doomed to fail from the start, whether from you and Eren being found out or something else."_

"So, what am I supposed to do now? There's no way I'll be able to survive having to live with Eren for an entire week. Fuck, just last night I admitted that I―"

_"That you're falling in love with him."_

"..."

 _"Levi?"_

"Yeah, I'm here, Eyebrows."

He heard Erwin sigh, the sound crackling through the line. _"I think you should stop fighting the inevitable and just accept things as they come, Levi. You can't stop these developing feelings and you know it as well as I do."_

Levi snorted in disbelief, "So, what? I'm just supposed to go along with this whole living together with Eren for a week thing and dig myself into a deeper hole?" 

_"Well, it's either that or let yourselves be caught in a lie and any chance you had with Eren will be gone for good."_

Levi definitely didn't like the sound of that, despite what his head was telling him. He always thought all the cliche bullshit about the head and heart wanting different things was just that, a load of bull, but in that moment, he'd never felt more at war with himself. His rational side was screaming at him that this was such a bad idea for so many reasons, while his inner romantic was softly whispering hopeful thoughts in his ears.

"You know," he grumbled. "I could just be setting myself up for one hell of a heartbreak."

 _"Perhaps."_ Erwin chuckled. _"Or, you could be securing a happy future for yourself. Which one is worth more to you?"_

"... Damn you, Smith. If this shit doesn't work out the way I hope it does, I'm going to personally hold you responsible." Levi growled. "And I'm going to need the rest of the week off, damn it."

 _"But of course, Mr. Ackerman. I wouldn't dream of forcing you to work this week when you have important guests to entertain."_

"Tch," Levi sucked his teeth. "I hope you bald early and grow a gut by the time you're forty." 

_"... That's a horrible thing to say, Levi."_

Rolling his eyes, Levi ended the call but took a moment or two to collect himself as he stayed slumped in his chair. He couldn't _believe_ that he let Erwin talk him into going through with this. This could only end badly, but the smug bastard seemed to think this wasn't just a one-sided thing and Levi hoped to a God he didn't even believe in that he was right.

\- X -

Despite getting the green light from Erwin to get the rest of the week off, Levi still had to stay at the office to finish out the day, which is exactly what he did. It was grueling and horribly stressful thanks to the absence of his Assistant, but Levi couldn't risk leaving the Jaeger's alone in his apartment which was why he was forced to let Eren take the rest of the day off. He never realized just how boring and lonely it was at the office without the brunet around. Maybe Mike had a good point the night before, Levi was definitely infatuated with Eren and he hadn't even realized it until now. 

But, he made due with what he could and thankfully, Levi was able to let everyone go home from work an hour earlier than he'd normally allow. He settled with Erwin that while he was gone for the week, Eld would be in charge and the raven was confident in that decision. Eld may not be the most motivated worker at first glance, but the truth was, the blond was the type to get the job done when it called for it. He was one of Levi's hardest workers, but Eld was also a firm believer in Work hard, Play hard. Either way, Levi was more than comfortable with leaving the man in charge while he was gone and knew he could rest easy knowing he made the right decision. 

When he finally made it back to his apartment, it was barely going to be 5:20 pm. Levi lingered outside in the hall for a moment as he reminded himself that once he walked through this door, there would be no turning back. It was just a little unnerving to him that for the next seven days, he was going to have to constantly be on his guard despite this being his own _home_. He was definitely not looking forward to it. 

Sighing heavily, Levi finally mustered up the will to slide his key into the lock and open the door. He was greeted with the quiet sound of muffled speech coming from his living room, no doubt, and he tiredly removed his boots and lined them up in their usual spot. He also didn't fail to notice that there were three other pairs of shoes lined by the foyer as well and he had to admit, it was definitely weird as hell to see that. He was so used to being alone that the thought of people waiting for him at home was also a strange thought.

"Levi?" he heard Eren call. 

"Yeah, it's me." 

"We're in the living room." 

Ah, so he was correct in his earlier assumption. Not surprising at all. Shrugging off his blazer and hanging it over his left arm, Levi made his way through the hall until he came to the entrance of his living room and he was a little surprised to see Carla, Grisha and Eren all sitting on his couch looking at the framed pictures he and Eren took together. 

"Welcome home, Mäuschen." Carla greeted with a warm smile, in her hands was the one picture that, so far, seemed to be everyone's favorite. "We were just talking about how this is such a nice picture of you two together." 

"Oh, yes." Levi smiled awkwardly. "Well, I'm not really one for liking to have my picture taken."

"But this one is so sweet because you're both smiling." the brunette woman cooed. "I must have a copy of it!" 

"Mom." Eren groaned. "Is that really necessary?"

"But of course!" Carla huffed reaching up to tug gently at one of Eren's earlobes. "I have no pictures of you and Levi together and I think I deserve at least this much. After all, you both kept your relationship hidden from us for so long. I want to be able to show off a picture of my son and his handsome future husband-to-be." 

Levi had to turn and cough into his hand in order to stifle a laugh that threatened to bubble up at Carla's words. He was starting to remember why he liked her. Once any signs of his amusement were wiped clean from his face and he was composed again, Levi turned back and cleared his throat catching everyone's attention. 

"It's fine. Of course we'll give you a copy of that photo, Carla." 

At his words, Carla absolutely beamed and Levi was once again reminded of just how much Eren resembled his sweet mother. "Danke, Mäuschen!" 

"Not a problem." Levi nodded. "I'm going to put my things away and then I'll join you all." 

"Oh, You don't have to, Levi." Eren piped up, still slightly rubbing at the earlobe his mother had tugged on earlier. "Don't you usually go to the gym after work?" 

"It's fine," the older raven said with a shrug. "I went for a jog before work this morning."

"Don't change your usual schedule just because of us, Levi." Mr. Jaeger said while adjusting his glasses. "Keeping a routine is important after all." 

"Honestly, it's fine." he tried reassuring the couple. "It's not a big deal if I skip going to the gym for one day."

"Well," Carla hummed. "I suppose you're right. You're already so skinny as it is, Mäuschen. If anything, we should be trying to fatten you up a bit." she ended with a laugh. 

"Mom, leave Levi alone." Eren sighed. "I happen to like him just the way he is now." 

"Oh?" the raven perked up. Teasing Eren was starting to become his favorite pass time. "So, are you saying you wouldn't love me anymore if I gained weight?" he asked with a playful smirk. 

"What?" the brunet choked. "N-No! That's not what I meant!"

"It's alright, Eren." Levi sighed, laying the mock-hurt on nice and thick. "I get it. You only wanted me for my body." 

Seeing the younger man blush furiously at the mention of his body was totally worth it and Levi only wished he could make Eren's cheeks flame like that in a completely different and not-so-innocent way. Red was quite a lovely color on the handsome brunet and Levi was more than happy to be the cause. 

"J-Just... go put your things away, Levi." Eren huffed. It would seem that he was slowly catching onto Levi's little game, which was unfortunate but not necessarily a problem.

Chuckling quietly, Levi decided to leave the teasing for another time and turned to head down the hall. He did as he said he would and put his briefcase away in his office before he entered his bedroom and hung up his blazer in the closet. He noticed that despite what Eren had done to the rest of the apartment, he hadn't touched a thing in Levi's bedroom, which the raven thought odd. Then again, he figured his bedroom was probably the least of Eren's concerns and he had yet to see if the brunet had put back the extra toiletries in his bathroom. 

Doing a quick check of said bathroom, Levi noticed that Eren had indeed put back the brand new toothbrush that sat in the cup next to Levi's, along with the bathrobe and the extra pair of slippers. The raven had also noticed the extra articles of clothing that did not belong to him hanging in the closet as well, which Levi thought was a very nice touch, if not a little weird to see. It was the night of the dinner party all over again. 

"Hey," 

Poking his head out of the bathroom, Levi noticed Eren standing awkwardly in his doorway, one of his arms hugging his other arm as he smiled nervously. 

"What is it?" Levi asked. 

"Um, look, I just wanted to say how sorry I am about all this." the brunet sighed, brilliant green-blue eyes shifting down from Levi's to stare down at the floor in obvious embarrassment. "I didn't think my parents would actually come and visit us, let alone stay with us. I totally understand if this is uncomfortable for you and if you want to get mad at me, that's cool too." 

Levi stepped back out into the open space of his bedroom and studied the lanky twenty-six-year-old standing in front of him. How could he possibly be angry at Eren? It wasn't like he planned for this to happen, plus, seeing him look something similar to a kicked puppy dog wasn't helping. Levi had accepted the fact that Eren Jaeger was his Kryptonite the night before and there was really no turning back from this point on. So, with a soft sigh, Levi bravely took a couple of steps forward and reach up until his fingertips grazed the underside of Eren's chin prompting the brunet to look up at him finally. Their eyes met and in that moment, Levi could practically feel the way every rigid part of him just melted and softened. He didn't even realize that he was smiling until he saw Eren mimic his expression but even that wasn't enough to make him want to stop. 

"I'm not angry." he said, voice low and soft. "As hard as it is to believe, I'm actually happy to see your parents again." 

Eren's smile broadened and Levi felt his lips twitch, daring to do the same. "Seriously?" he laughed. "I thought you'd be upset for sure." 

"Surprised, yes. Maybe even a little shocked, but upset? Not really. Besides," Moving his hand from Eren's chin, Levi traced his fingertips lightly down the front of Eren's chest until it dropped back to his side. His eyes caught the way Eren's trachea bobbed when he swallowed and it had Levi smirking again. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing your mom and dad nag you again, Eren Michael Jaeger." 

Cocking one of his full eyebrows and shooting Levi a very unimpressed look, Eren scoffed. "You're such an ass." The rave shrugged and soon Eren was smiling and running a hand through his hair. "Ugh, but how are we going to make it through this week without them finding out? This isn't going to be like Germany, this is supposed to be _our_ apartment and _our_ bedroom and it's not like you have another guest room for me to stay in." 

"We'll jump off that bridge when we get there." Levi reassured him. "If all else fails, you can always sleep on the couch." he suggested. "Hanji and Erwin will vouch that it's probably more comfortable than most beds to sleep on." 

"Yeah," Eren nodded. "That could work and if my parents ask we're not staying in the room, I'll just make up some bullshit excuse about how I don't want to make them uncomfortable or something." 

Levi couldn't help but snort at that, "You think they'd actually believe that considering, to their knowledge, we slept together in the same room when we were in Germany?" 

"Shit... maybe not." 

"Well, if that doesn't work, and it probably won't, we'll just do what we did in Germany." 

Eren flashed Levi a grimace, "Um, I don't know if I want to sleep on the floor every night for a whole week."

Ah, well, Eren definitely had a good point there. Sleeping on the floor was not fun, Levi totally understood where he was coming from. It didn't matter how many pillows and blankets and you used; a hard floor was a hard floor.

"Tell you what," Levi said with a snap of his fingers. "You sleep on the bed and I'll take the floor. There, problem solved." 

"What? No!" Eren squawked in surprise. "Levi, I couldn't let you do that. This is your apartment!" 

"Before you go any further, Jaeger, let me just remind you that I'm a insomniac. I never sleep for more than two or three hours at a time, and I'm lucky if it's three hours straight." he explained. "I won't be using the bed all that much this week." 

"Oh..." the younger man said quietly. "Sorry, I forgot. I guess... you have a point." Eren scratched at his cheek awkwardly and looked a little uncertain. "I'd still feel guilty putting you out like that." 

Rolling his eyes and groaning, Levi side-stepped the taller male and started making his way out of the bedroom. "You're sleeping on the bed, Jaeger. End of discussion." 

"Wha―Hey! Wait!"

\- X -

"You didn't have to cook Dinner, Mom. Levi and I would have felt better taking you guys out to eat."

"Nonsense, Eren! Mothers love cooking for their children and besides, I wouldn't have cooked if I didn't feel like it." 

Eren and Levi were seated across from the older couple recovering from the wonderful food Carla Jaeger had made. It didn't surprise Levi at all when Carla stepped into his kitchen and immediately claimed the space for herself for the evening, and probably the rest of their stay as well. Eren had tried to convince his parents to let them treat them to dinner somewhere in the city considering it was their first night there, but Carla would have none of it and she quickly won the argument with a few stern words in German and a wag of her finger. Levi may not have grown up with a mother but he understood that action a little too well. He didn't think anybody could win against the famous finger wag. 

"Thank you for the food, Carla. It was delicious." And Levi meant that with all the sincerity in the world. He didn't have a lot of experience with eating home cooked meals, but even he could appreciate a fantastic meal when he had one. 

"Aww, well thank _you_ too, Mäuschen. For helping me clean up and letting me borrow your kitchen. I know it isn't easy letting someone else take over the way I did but I appreciate it." 

Grisha wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders and in a very rare show of affection, the older man leaned in and kissed his wife's cheek prompting the brunette to turn and stare into his eyes and smile at him. Levi watched with interest as Doctor Jaeger murmured something softly to his wife in German and whatever he said, it had the woman blushing and looking away shyly. It prompted a slightly disgusted groan from Eren who was sitting close to Levi's side, their hands linked. 

Levi smirked and squeezed Eren's hand earning him the younger man's attention. "Looks like your dad still has some moves." he teased. 

"Oh god, please don't say that." Eren whined. "It's bad enough seeing my parents act like a couple of teenagers in front of me, I don't want to think about them doing anything else." 

"Tch, not like that, brat." the raven grumbled. "I just meant that I think it's sweet that your dad still knows how to flatter your mom even after they've been married for so long. It's rare to find that in a lot of older married couples." 

"Huh," the brunet mused. "I guess you're right. My parents may have their arguments, believe me, but I've never seen them stay angry with each other." 

"Mm. Makes you wonder what their secret is."

"That's easy," Grisha interrupted with a slight smile on his face. "The secret is love and a lot of hard work." 

Levi thought on the older man's words for a second before he nodded slowly in agreement, "That makes sense." 

"Really?" Eren grumbled. "No offense, Dad, but that answer is just so... cheesy." 

Gently, Levi swatted the younger man on the back of his head which earned him some halfhearted protests but the raven quickly silenced them. 

"You're such a brat." Eren pouted at his words but Levi knew a good way to remedy that. "But you're _my_ brat, after all." He leaned in and kissed Eren's jawline before he rested his head on the brunet's shoulder, their hands still linked. 

Grisha and Carla watched their playful interaction with fond expressions, the older couple snuggling closer together while Levi felt his eyes droop. He hadn't realized how tired he was until now and the yawn that followed after was enough to have Carla chuckling. 

"Looks like it's time for bed." she said, patting her husband's chest. "We should probably all get ready for bed. It's been a long day for all of us." Before long, The Jaegers stood from their seats and began to bid the couple goodnight. 

"Are you sure you have enough pillows and blankets?" Eren asked, sitting up and scooting to the edge of the love seat. The movement jostled Levi from where he had been resting his head on Eren's shoulder, but it served as a good wake up call because any longer and he probably would have drifted off right there. "If you need extra, Levi and I can get them." 

"Eren," Carla chuckled with a shake of her head. "Don't worry, Sonnenschein. Your Father and I will be fine. You just make sure Levi gets to bed soon. Goodnight, Mäuschen. We'll see you in the morning." 

Taking their leave, Carla and Grisha disappeared down the hall that led to the guest room and Eren finally relaxed once he heard their door open and click shut. He slumped back onto the couch and Levi watched him for a moment or two. The brunet looked about as tired as he felt. 

"Your mom is right. We should probably go to bed." 

"But, it's only 8:45." Eren grumbled. 

"And? Don't tell me you're actually going to stay awake just because you don't deem it late enough." 

"... Alright, I guess." 

To say that it was awkward for the two of them to be standing from the couch and walking toward Levi's bedroom together would be a definite understatement. Neither of them said a word as they filed into the bedroom, Levi first, Eren last, but at least the latter didn't linger by the doorway this time around.

The raven sighed tiredly as he rolled his shoulders and his neck. He was just itching to get out of his sweater and that's exactly what he planned on doing first. But, first, he had to make sure Eren was comfortable before he worried about himself. 

"Do you have something to sleep in?" he asked, turning back to look at the brunet who seemed a little unsure.

"Um, yeah, I brought a couple of changes of clothes but that'll only get me by for tonight and tomorrow." 

"That's fine." Levi nodded. "We'll figure out a way for you to go back to your apartment and bring more clothes tomorrow. For now, make yourself at home. I'm going into the bathroom first." 

He waited until Eren nodded and then he made his way over to the connected bathroom. He entered and shut the door behind him and wasted no time in going about his nightly routine. Levi stripped his sweater off for now and folded it up neatly before he started running the faucet to brush his teeth. Seven minutes later and Levi had done everything he needed to do. Glancing at himself in the mirror when he went to reach for the doorknob, grey eyes caught on the soft colors inked onto his pale skin and he hesitated. 

Levi reminded himself that Eren was right on the other side of the door and that if he walked out dressed the way he was now, his tattoos would be on display and there would be nothing to hide. But, to his surprise, he found that he didn't care if Eren saw his tattoos again. He'd already seen them twice before, the first time not being something Levi would care to recall but regardless, Eren had seen them if only briefly. 

"This is fine." he told his reflection softly. "We're not going to hide anything from him anymore." Levi took a deep breath and gripped the doorknob firmly, pulling the door open. 

When he stepped out into the soft lighting of his bedroom, Eren was already changed into a soft gray t-shirt and a pair of loose black sweatpants. He was standing by the edge of the bed and scrolling through his phone when he heard Levi exit the bathroom. Looking up, Eren seemed to freeze when he saw the raven saunter into the bedroom, his torso completely bare. Levi was hyper aware of the fact that Eren was staring at him as he walked toward his closet and put his sweater away. 

When Levi turned to face the brunet, he found that the younger man was still staring openly at him. "Earth to Eren Jaeger." he sang with a smirk. When Eren snapped his eyes back up to meet Levi's, the raven laughed quietly. "Interested in something?" 

He heard Eren gulp, "Um, it's just... I've never seen your tattoos in such good lighting before." he admitted honestly. "They're pretty." 

"Pretty, huh?" Levi mused quietly. "I've never thought of them like that before."

"But they are." the brunet insisted with a determined expression. "I know you didn't get them to admire them but, they're still pretty." 

"Well..." Levi began hesitantly, reaching up to rub at the fuzz of his undercut. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment, then." 

Eren smiled, "You sure you don't want the bed? Last chance." 

"Nah," the older man said as he walked over to another closet on the opposite side of the room. This one was smaller and stored mostly extra pillows and sheets. Pulling out a rather large burnt orange duvet that Hanji had given to him as a house warming gift years ago, Levi held it up and regarded it with disgust. "I guess it's a good a time as any to use Hanji's god awful duvet. I don't know what she was thinking when she gave this thing to me. I hate the color orange. It's so fucking obnoxious." 

"At least it looks warm." 

"That's not even the half of it," Levi snorted as he walked over to the foot of the bed and began spreading the duvet out on the carpet. "Hanji used to cover me with this thing whenever I drank a little too much at one of her parties and I'd always wake up the next morning sweating like a pig and feeling like I was suffocating. It's like a slab of cement." 

"Man," Eren chuckled. "How old is that thing?" 

"Who knows." Tossing a couple of pillows down and grabbing a smaller throw blanket that he hardly ever used, Levi had his little makeshift bed all made up. "I just know that she's had this thing since before we were friends and it's fucking indestructible." 

Crossing the room, Levi turned off the light and successfully bathed the room in darkness. His only light source was the pale moonlight trickling in from the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. The two men got settled, Eren climbing onto Levi's much-too-large King sized bed and pulled the covers up while Levi knelt down on the floor and fluffed one of his pillows. 

"What do you mean it's indestructible?" the brunet asked, continuing their conversation about Hanji's mysterious blanket. 

"Let's just say that there was an apartment fire one time and everything inside burned, except for this fucking blanket." 

"Wow."

"I fucking know." Levi scoffed as he finally settled in on the floor. He had removed his pants, leaving him in nothing but his boxer-briefs but it wasn't like Eren hadn't seen Levi in his underwear before. Hell, the kid spooned him in bed while he was half hard. At this point, there really shouldn't be anything to be shy about.

So far, sleeping on the floor wasn't too bad, but Levi had enough experience sleeping on floors to know that after an hour or two it would start taking it's toll on his body, which he supposed wasn't so bad considering he didn't sleep much anyway. "Goodnight, brat. Sleep well." 

"Mm..." He heard Eren hum sleepily. "Night, Levi..." 

Smiling to himself, Levi closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He hoped that he'd be able to sleep at least for a couple of hours. Asking for three hours of sleep was probably pushing it, but if Levi knew himself, and he did, he'd be up around midnight soon enough. He could deal with sleeping on the floor, so long as Eren was comfortable, that's all he really cared about. They'd worry about tomorrow's worries tomorrow. For now, he'd count tonight as a victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy I got to finish this before the weekend. -Flys off to go play Dragon Age-
> 
> I'm totally gonna shower Levi in Carla's motherly love. My little grumpy nugget deserves it!


	19. You Make Me Feel A Little How You're Looking at me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _"♪ If I told you that I loved you, tell me, what would you say?_   
>  _If I told you that I hated you, would you go away?_   
>  _Now I need your help with everything that I do,_   
>  _I don't wanna lie, I've been relying on you ♪"_
> 
> The Beach - **The Neighbourhood**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look, a new chapter FINALLY!! Yaay! -throws things at you-

To Levi's mild surprise, he slept longer than he originally thought he would considering the fact there were three unexpected guests staying in his home. One guest in particular was currently occupying his bed which is why Levi awoke feeling slightly disoriented and confused when he didn't immediately recall why he was sleeping on the floor. 

He took a minute to blink tiredly up at his ceiling ― that annoyingly white ceiling of his with it's stupidly larger-than-necessary ceiling fan. Shit, when did he start to notice how much he actually hated this apartment? Everything about it was so goddamn big and empty and _clean_ , almost clinically so. Was it always like this? Or did having three other people staying in his apartment just make all it's shortcomings blindingly more obvious to him? 

Sighing heavily, Levi slowly sat up and groaned when his back slightly ached from having slept on the floor for so long. Normally, he could tell what time it was by his body's internal alarm clock and it's incessant need to always wake him up at 2 a.m. but today, that didn't seem to be the case at all. He felt so off kilter. 

Scrubbing at his face a bit, Levi felt the little traces of stubble starting to make itself known on his chin and cheeks and he frowned before glancing up at the digital clock on his bedside table. The big red glowing numbers flashed angrily back at him through the darkness and showed him very clearly that it was just a little past 4 a.m. and much to Levi's surprise, he felt much less tired than he would normally at this hour. Then again, he's never slept this long in one night before, not since his trip to Germany with Eren. He supposed... this couldn't be a coincidence, but it wasn't a topic he wanted to dwell on right now. 

Still, despite it being two hours later than he was used to starting his day at, Levi was already going through several ideas for killing time until normal people would start to rise at an actual decent time of morning. Normally, the raven would lock himself up in his home office and work until it was time for his morning run, but he didn't think he'd be able to get away with doing that this week, if at all. Still, he had an hour to kill before he went for his morning run at 5 a.m. and then to the gym until 7 a.m., so he may as well get up and get ready for the day, whatever it entailed for him. 

So, that's exactly what he did; he got up and stretched, popping all his joints and cracking his bones before he moved to rummage through his closet. It wasn't hard for him to find clothes to wear in the darkness considering majority of his wardrobe was monochromatic with the occasional dark gray or cream so he wasn't worried about his clothes not matching. He was very careful about moving around his room so he wouldn't stir the sleeping body that was sprawled on his large bed. Once he'd dressed himself, Levi took a moment to watch the rise and fall of Eren's chest through the lightening darkness. He traced the curve of his neck thanks to the little precious bit of moonlight that was left and gray eyes followed the line of his neck up toward his jawline and then stopped when they reached plush lips.

In the quiet stillness of the room, Levi could hear himself gulp and the sound brought him out of his reverie and back to the present. He couldn't believe his heart was actually pounding just from the sight of Eren's lips. It was the same palpitating feeling he experienced when he drinks coffee and Levi often compared the sensation to the feel of dying, although that was just him exaggerating. But he supposed the comparison of dying was probably accurate when it involved Eren, Maker only knows how much fucking pining Levi has been doing recently, it was ridiculous. 

Shaking himself from his wandering thoughts, Levi forced himself to turn and walk out of the bedroom. Nothing good was going to come out of him standing there and staring at Eren like some creep in a dark bedroom. So, he focused on one task at a time in order to keep himself and his mind occupied. Twenty minutes later, Levi was sitting at his desk in his office and sipping at a very hot cup of earl gray. He found comfort in the familiarity of this routine and he quickly lost himself in his work― not that he had much to do in the first place. Levi was pretty good about staying on top of his work and not falling behind on anything and so far, his obsessive compulsive tendencies regarding work related things seemed to be paying off because he had knocked out about three days of work in just under two hours which still left him plenty of time to go for his morning run and then hit the gym on his way back. 

Once more, Levi slipped quietly into his bedroom and quickly changed into his gym clothes and slipped on his trainers. Although this time, he didn't linger long enough to stare at Eren which saved him a good couple of minutes. Levi briefly wondered if anything did ever happen between them, how he would ever focus on anything when someone as distracting as Eren was always around. Wishful thinking, but still something he was curious about. 

Like a thief in the night, Levi easily slipped out of his apartment with all his essentials and made his way down the corridor where he pushed open the door that led to the stairs. He liked to use the trip down to the lobby as a warm up before his run and it was quite helpful, considering Levi's apartment was on the top floor and there were several flights of stairs between it and the lobby. The Super greeted Levi with a curt nod and a grunt, which the raven was completely fine in returning. He was just glad his Super was an older man who liked to keep to himself instead of some nosy old codger like the Super at his last apartment building. 

He was greeted by freezing winter air as he stepped out of his building and Levi stood still for a moment and allowed a shiver to run through his body. It didn't matter how many layers he had on, the raven still despised the cold and he probably always would. A couple of stretches later, Levi inhaled deeply and relished in the sting breathing in the biting air did to his lungs and the back of his throat before he let out his breath in a rush and with it a giant puff of vapor. Limbered up, Levi started his run at a brisk pace and allowed his mind to go blissfully blank.

\- x -

Upon returning to his building, Levi took note that it was nearly 8 am and there was a very high probability that at least one of his guests were awake. He hoped Eren had enough common sense to know that sleeping in today would be a bad idea considering that would mean his parents would be left to their own devices inside Levi's apartment, a thought that didn't sit well with the older man as he stepped off the elevator and took a sharp right down the hallway.

Reaching his door, Levi stopped and contemplated pulling out his phone to text Eren to see if the brat was awake yet. There was a small part of him that hoped his Assistant would surprise him and actually be awake and ready for a change, but a bigger part of himself told him not to get his hopes up too much because if there was one thing he'd learned about Eren Jaeger, it was that if the kid had the chance to sleep in, he took it. 

**Levi:** _I hope you're not planning on sleeping in, Jaeger. We have guests to host._

Pocketing his phone after shooting off that text, Levi stepped away from his door and paced the hallway a bit. He was dying to go in and strip out of his sweat-damp clothes and shower but he wanted to be sure he wouldn't be helplessly cornered by the sweet but ferocious Carla Jaeger. Several minutes passed and when Levi got no reply from Eren, the older man growled quietly in frustration before he gave up and stepped up to his front door to unlock it. He couldn't wait any longer to shower; He needed to be clean _now_.

Unsurprisingly, when the raven stepped into his foyer he was greeted with the wonderful aroma of freshly made coffee and breakfast cooking. He could hear politely quiet conversation coming from the direction of his kitchen and of course Levi wasn't at all shocked to see that it was Carla and Grisha currently occupying his kitchen, each with a coffee mug in one hand as they chatted to each other in German. 

"Good morning." he greeted politely with a little nod of his head.

"Oh, Mäuschen!" Carla exclaimed. "We didn't think you were up yet. Here we were trying to be quiet." 

"Nice to see that you're an early riser, Levi." Grisha commented with a nod of approval. "Already so busy this early in the morning?" 

Levi couldn't help but rub at his neck and grimace a bit when he felt the stickiness of the sweat drying on his skin. "Yes, unfortunately I'm a victim of insomnia and sleeping in late has never been an option for me." 

"You look flushed." Mrs. Jaeger worried. "Where did you go so early in the morning?" 

"I went for a run." the raven mumbled awkwardly. "Then I killed some time at the gym."

"And, you do this every morning?" Dr. Jaeger hummed. 

"Usually, yes." 

The older couple exchanged knowing looks and smiles and Levi couldn't help but feel a bit nervous under their scrutiny all of a sudden. Had he said something... odd? He didn't think he did but why else would Eren's parents react like that? 

"Well, you're probably tired from all that exercise. Why don't you sit down and I'll make you some tea, Mäuschen?" 

"Please, don't trouble yourself, Carla." the raven said with a clearing of this throat. "Actually, I think I'm going to shower first before I join you. Has Eren gotten up yet?" 

"I'm right here." a beautifully familiar voice said followed by a beautifully familiar figure appearing in the kitchen all fresh-faced and wide awake. "I hope you don't mind, I showered first." 

Momentarily distracted by the sight of Eren standing in the kitchen wearing a simple knit forest green sweater with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of white chinos pants, Levi had to take a moment to blink away the ridiculous flower petals he suddenly saw surrounding his Assistant this morning. Blinking rapidly, Levi quickly remembered himself and found the power of speech once more. 

"That's fine. I'm going in next." he announced very matter-of-fact before moving past everyone in the suddenly cramped kitchen. Had his kitchen always been this small or did it suddenly just look that way because it was full of people? As he passed Eren by on his way to the bedroom, Levi had to stop dead in his tracks when he recognized the scent on Eren's entire body. "Is that...?" he started before trailing off. 

Eren eyed him with open curiosity when the older man didn't continue that train of that out loud. "Is that what?" he asked. 

Levi opened his mouth the continued but then slowly shut it when he realized why the smell was so familiar and yet unfamiliar. Putting two and two together, Eren having just showered and Levi recognizing his scent, it was so obvious. The brat had used his soap to shower. The very thought had Levi's mind going completely blank as he caught another whiff of _his_ bodywash on Eren's skin, mixing together with that oddly relaxing cinnamon and vanilla scent he was so used to associating with his assistant at this point. It jump started his heart and the older man could quickly feel his face heating up because, holy fucking hell, Eren smelled of his soap from head to toe and it was simply intoxicating. 

"Levi?" Eren called with some concern in his voice. "You alright? I thought you said you were going to shower?" 

Like a fish out of water, Levi opened his mouth to speak but closed it again when nothing came out. It was like he suddenly forgot how to make words with his mouth and his flaming cheeks were not helping matters. 

"Nothing." he answered hastily once he'd found his voice again. "Never mind." 

The brunet stared at him suspicious for a second or two before relenting to drop the subject, surprisingly. "Okay... well, I'll have your tea ready when you come out. Earl Gray?" 

Grunting what he hoped was some kind of noise of affirmation, Levi quickly made his escape into his bedroom when he locked himself in the slightly humid bathroom. Well, now the proof of Eren's shower was fucking _everywhere_ and all around him and Levi just... couldn't understand how him smelling his own soap on Eren's body had him reacting so violently. His heart was absolutely pounding in his chest, to the point where Levi was actually worried about his physical health for a minute. His face still felt impossibly hot and it didn't seem to be going away anytime soon. 

With a growl of frustration, the raven stripped off his clothes and in a very uncharacteristic move threw them to the ground where he left them in a crumpled heap. Right now, feeling the way he felt over such a tiny little thing, Levi didn't care that he was breaking his own strict rules about tidiness. Turning the cold water on, Levi stepped into the spray of water and clenched his teeth tightly as the freezing water hit his heated skin. He stood there under the spray for a good couple of minutes, extra minutes that he deemed very unnecessary because Levi was known for his 3-minute combat showers but apparently he would have to settle for five minutes today. 

When he finally lathered himself up with soap, Levi let his mind wander back to Eren and how only a few minutes ago the brunet had been standing in this very shower in this very spot using this very same soap to wash himself and yet, Levi's soap on his Assistant's skin smelled absolutely _amazing_ and he couldn't understand why. He smelled this soap everyday and it never smelled any better than it already did, nor did Levi think it smelled half as amazing on his own skin as it did on Eren's. There was just something so intimate about Eren smelling of him and it was giving Levi new feelings he'd never experienced before in his entire thirty-three-years of life on this fucking planet. 

What he wouldn't give to have Eren pinned to this very tiled shower wall covered in suds and smelling of that damn scented body wash. He didn't even mean pinning him against the shower wall in a sexual way, either, surprisingly. Levi just wanted to have him pinned there so he could smell that wonderful scent on his skin first hand. Well, okay, so maybe his thoughts about pinning Eren to the wall weren't completely innocent. He'd also like to mark up that deliciously tanned skin with lots and lots of pretty little kiss-shaped bruises as well but, those were thoughts Levi did not want to entertain right now. No, no, much too dangerous. 

Thankfully, Levi finished his shower without any... _incidents_ , so to speak. By the time he rejoined the Jaeger family in the kitchen, showered and dressed, the older couple were just about to sit down for breakfast and Eren was carrying two mugs over to the small kitchen table. Upon seeing Levi walking out of the bedroom, his hair still a little damp and falling into his eyes, the brunet smiled and Levi was a little surprised when Eren approached him and pushed his fringe back. 

"Time for a trim?" he chuckled. 

"Ah, y-yeah..." was all Levi could say. Shit, he was way to hyper aware of Eren now. It was distracting having him so close now. "It has been awhile since I last trimmed my hair." 

"We should get that done before New Years." Eren commented, pushing Levi's hair back one final time before he stepped away and took a seat at the table. 

Levi followed suit but a little more delibrately. "I'm assuming you cooked breakfast, Carla." 

"But of course, Mäuschen. A mother always makes sure her children are fed from the moment the sun comes up to the moment it goes back down. Our work is never done." she tittered. 

"Mom," Eren sighed. "You should let us take care of you and dad, not the other way around. You're our guests, after all." 

"Oh, my, Grisha. Our little boy is finally all grown up, wanting to take care of his parents for a change."

Grisha chuckled and reached over to pat Eren on his shoulder, "Indeed. It seems Levi is really having a positive impact on our son. He's finally acting like an adult."

The brunet smiled sarcastically, "Ha ha. I get it, I'm a brat." 

"Finally, someone other than me points it out." Levi smirked around the rim of his mug. 

That only earned him an eye roll from his younger Assistant, "I'm rubber, you're glue." he sang. 

"You're only proving my point further by using such a childish expressions, Eren." 

"Yeah, well... You... drink your tea weird." 

Levi couldn't help but scoff loudly resulting in surprise from Carla who seemed to light up at the almost-laugh and Grisha who openly eyed him curiously. 

"Insult the way I hold my cups all you want. You're still a brat." 

" _Anyway,_ " Eren drawled out. "What's so weird about me wanting to take care of my parents? It was bound to happen eventually." 

"It's not weird." Grisha agreed. "We're just pleasantly surprised that it's happening sooner rather than later." 

"Ja, and I'm not an old woman just yet. I'll keep taking care of my babies until I can't anymore, so rest assured, Sonnenschein. You can continue to be my little baby for a little while longer." Carla cooed. 

"Mom." Eren groaned, hiding half his face in embarrassment. 

Levi snickered before starting to tuck into his food, "The same goes for you too, Levi." Carla interrupted. "You're family now and that means you're also my baby." 

Nearly choking on a strip of bacon, Levi set down his fork and took a moment to literally swallow down everything that just happened in that moment. That damn heat crept back onto his cheeks and the raven could do nothing but fiddle nervously with the engagement band around his ring finger as he cleared his throat. 

"I―uh, well, thank you, Carla. That's... very kind of you." 

Oh, no. Levi was starting to remember why he adored Carla Jaeger. She was basically the mom he never had and always wanted and it just hurt all the more knowing that none of this was real. Thankfully, the rest of breakfast went off without a hitch and Levi helped Carla clean up afterwards. Afterwards, the four of them all gathered in the living room where Carla began to tell Eren about everything that was happening back home in Shiganshina. Levi was content to simply sit and listen to a mother nag at her son in a foreign tongue. 

"By the way, Mäuschen. I never told you just how beautiful your apartment is." 

Snapping to attention when Levi realized he was being addressed, he sat forward and uncrossed his legs as he took a quick look around his own living room before answering. 

"Oh, well, thank you." 

"Have you lived here long?" Grisha asked next. 

"Not really. I think it's only been about four years since I moved in." 

"It looks like the set of a professional photo shoot for one of those Home Decor magazines." Carla giggled. "You have good taste in picking out furniture and color schemes." 

"Surprising, right?" Eren smirked, earning him a gentle elbow to the ribs from the raven. 

"To be honest," Levi started. "I'm not very attached to this place. If I found a better place tomorrow, I'd take it in a heartbeat." 

"Are you and Eren planning on living in this apartment after the wedding or have you been looking into moving?" 

That question prompted both men to exchange a glance with one another before Eren was hurrying to cover their asses. 

"Well, a colleague of ours at work actually introduced us to a real estate agent recently and we met with her not long ago." 

"Oh?" The older couple said in perfect unison. 

"Yes. Our friends have been very... _helpful_ when it comes to giving us advice about looking into moving." Levi said in a tight voice. He was still a little mad at Hanji for tricking him and Eren into meeting with that damn real estate agent. 

"And?" Carla asked eagerly. "Have you two found anything you like yet?" 

"Mom, we only just met with the agent a week ago. House hunting takes time. Levi and I don't want to rush into anything, after all." 

That answer seemed to amuse sweet Mrs. Jaeger as she threw her head back and laugh loudly, "Oh, Sonnenschein, please. Remind me again how long it was you said you two dated before you got engaged. Six months?" 

"That's..." Levi wasn't surprised to see that Eren was at a complete loss for words because, well, they couldn't argue with that. At least not without blowing their cover completely. 

"Carla, don't pressure them." Mr. Jaeger said with a pat to his wife's hand in her lap. "I think it's good that they're being careful about such a huge decision and I trust they know what they're doing." 

"Well," Carla sighed. "If you think so, Grisha. I just don't see why all the hesitation and secrecy. You haven't even told us when you plan to have the wedding." 

"Summer of next year." Levi answered without missing a beat. Gray eyes flashed over to meet bright teal and soon two separate hands found their way to each other and linked together across the sectional. "We agreed that it has to be in the summer." 

"That's so far off!" cried Mrs. Jaeger, much to the amusement of her husband who chuckled and shook his head fondly. "Why not move it up to an earlier date, like spring? Spring weddings are popular." 

Levi never tore his eyes away from Eren's as he spoke next. "Because, Summer is when I'm reminded of Eren the most." he explained in a gentle tone, his thumb moving to rub over Eren's knuckles as he said this. 

He could tell that his words were having an affect on the younger man, if the slight coloring of his cheeks and the bashful way he averted his eyes down to their linked hands was anything to judge by, and it gave Levi hope seeing this. Perhaps Erwin was right and this feeling he felt for Eren wasn't just one-sided. He might be jumping the gun, but for once he wanted to be foolish and let himself hope.

"Well," Carla sighed. "If that's your reason, then who am I to question it?" Then she smiled knowingly when she noticed the way Eren reacted to Levi's words. "I'm also pleased to see that you can make my son blush with only a few words, Mäuschen." she giggled. 

"M-Mom, stop..." 

"What do you think, dear? Should we give our boys some time to themselves for a bit?" 

Grisha hummed as if in thought before he finally nodded, "Yes. I suppose we could do that. We promised we'd go and visit your aunt Faye once we were back in New York anyway."

"Oh," Eren perked up in surprise. "Did you want me to call a car service for you?" 

"Nonsense, Eren." The older brunet sniffed. "Your mother and I can take care of ourselves. We're not defenseless infants." 

"At least let us call the car service for you, anyway." Levi suggested, reaching into his pant pocket to fish out his cell phone. "It's reliable and clean. I use this car service a lot myself. If I mention you're relatives of mine, they'll probably give us a discount." 

"Oh, my. I had no idea you were so important, Mäuschen." Carla smiled. As she moved to start getting her things ready, she stopped by Levi's end of the sectional and placed a warm hand against his cheek. "You're so good to us." 

Caught off guard by the affectionate gesture and the sincere words, Levi could nothing but return Carla's smile to his best abilities. "I give this car service a lot of business. It's the least they can do." he explained. 

Getting the Jaegers all situated with a car to drive them where they needed to go, soon this left Eren and Levi to their own devices and the two men took advantage of the little break to drop their act and plan their next course of action. 

"Um, thanks for that." Eren said once they were alone in the kitchen. 

"For what?" Levi asked distractedly while he rummaged through his own fridge for something. 

"You know, for everything. For letting my parents stay here, indulging my mom, calling and paying for the car service." The brunet took a step toward Levi who was slightly bent forward while staring into his refrigerator. "You didn't have to do any of this, you know." he said softly. 

Not used to hearing that particular tone of voice from Eren of all people, Levi stopped his search for... well, he didn't even remember what he had been looking for, if he were being honest with himself, and turned to study his younger assistant with a careful gaze. Eren stood less than two feet from him leaning against a counter top and slouching forward a bit while his head hung low and his eyes stayed glued to the tile beneath his feet. He looked for all the world so uncharacteristically shy and uncertain of himself, which were two words Levi would never associate with Eren Jaeger. 

"Hey," he called in a gentle tone. He felt as if he spoke any louder than this, he would scare Eren away like a frightened little animal. It took a minute but when Eren finally looked up to meet his gaze, Levi did his best to soften his expression. "If I didn't want to do any of this, I wouldn't do them. It's that simple." 

The brunet seemed a little surprised by his words, but Levi would stand by them. Then, Eren's expression lost all traces of it's former worry and uncertainty as a tiny but brilliant smile spread across his handsome face. It prompted the corners of Levi's lips to twitch at the sight of the little grin and the pure relief on his assistant's face once he reassured him. A comfortable silence fell over them and for just a moment, Levi felt completely content to let it stretch on forever if it meant just getting to stand there and stare at Eren while the attractive idiot stared back at him smiling with his eyes so open and unguarded and so damn gorgeous in the morning light. It was like staring into a kaleidoscope of greens, blues and hints of gold.

"So..." Eren drawled with a little smirk. "What should we do about my parents? We have at least a couple of hours to ourselves before they come back." 

"Well," Levi thought out loud. "It would probably be a good idea for you to go back to your apartment and pick up some more clothes and whatever else you need. I doubt we'll get another golden opportunity like this, so lets take advantage of it." 

"Right, good idea. What about you? What are you going to do while I'm gone?" 

"I'm going to do what I do best: clean." 

Eren snorted, "Seriously?" 

"Seriously." 

"Well... okay, I guess. Do you want me to pick anything up on my way back?" 

Levi and Eren both started walking toward the foyer and the raven came to a stop near the living room entrance and leaned against the wall while he watched Eren slip on his boots and then start shrugging on his coat and scarf. 

"Not that I can think of, no. Just..." he hesitated before saying what he wanted to say next because it might sound a little... creepy but fuck, he hoped it didn't because he needed to say it out loud before the idiot walked out the door and left. "Just, be careful." 

Eren paused in his actions and turned to stare back at the older man who determinedly refused to meet the brunet's eyes, instead choosing to stare at the floor rebelliously. Then, he felt a warm pair of arms wrap around his body and pull him flush against the intense heat of Eren's body and it was just so... _wonderful_. His nose was immediately assaulted with the smell of his body wash all over Eren's skin mixing with the brunet's natural spicy scent and he was once again simply baffled by his own reaction toward a smell. He couldn't resist the urge to lean into the hug in order to smell more of him and just bathe in his warmth that spread all the way down to his very toes and had his heart thumping like crazy. 

"I promise I'll be careful." Eren murmured in a quiet voice, though it sounded loud in the thick silence of the apartment. 

To say that Levi was disappointed when they had to pull away from each other would be a massive understatement. No words could describe the feeling of loss he felt when Eren stepped away from him and reached for the door handle preparing to leave. It was a ridiculous feeling for him to have because it wasn't like Eren was never coming back once he walked out that door, but the urge Levi had to just reach out, pull him back and just _keep_ him there was frightening. 

"Be back in a bit." Eren called as he finally stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him. 

When the sound of the door clicking shut was heard, Levi felt like the noise echoed throughout his apartment like it would an empty canyon. He was alone, finally, but he found that in that moment he wanted to be anywhere _but_ in this big, empty apartment all by himself. Anywhere...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter took an age for me to post. My life has been really hectic and stressful and busy and it's probably going to stay that way for awhile but hopefully it won't take me this long to post the next chapter. 
> 
> P.S. Thank you to all my wonderful readers who have been leaving such sweet, kind and encouraging comments for the past couple of weeks! You're the very reason I continue to do what I do and I'm no good with receiving compliments and even worse at replying to them but believe me when I say that I read each and every comment and I appreciate each single one! <333 Please keep supporting me in the future!


	20. Comfortable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _'♪ Days dedicated to the thought of being through_   
>  _and I just want to lay in bed with you_   
>  _and admit that I'm so tired of everything I do_   
>  _but with you, but with you - it was new ♪_
> 
> in the absence of everything, i promise to keep you warm ― **flatsound**  
> 

On the third day of the Jaeger's stay with them, Carla tried teaching Levi how to knit. Needless to say, it went horribly. The man truly had no talent for crafting homemade things, and while Carla was sweet and patient about it, Levi decided very early into the lesson that knitting just wasn't a strength of his. Grisha on the other hand only seemed to want to talk to Levi about his work and work related things. 

By the time noon rolled around that day, Levi was slowly learning that the Jaegers were a very involved and hands on kind of family. This was made painfully evident when Carla used the bathroom in Levi's bedroom and somehow discovered the cherry-flavored condom that Hanji had given him as a joke. 

"Sonnenschein," she'd called as she re-entered the kitchen where Levi and Eren were standing while drinking their own cups of tea. "Why hasn't this been opened yet?" the older woman asked, holding the black and red box up for the two men to see. 

Eren choked on his tea and Levi nearly dropped his cup when he saw the brunette so genuinely confused about why there was a box of unopened cherry-flavored condoms stashed somewhere in the bathroom.

"MOM!" Eren squeaked, eyes alarmingly wide and cheeks impossibly red. "Why are you holding those!?" 

"What?" Carla tittered, a knowing look in her warm honey-gold eyes. "I just wanted to know why you haven't opened these yet? I hope you boys are using protection." she teased. 

"Mom, please..." the younger man standing across from Levi sighed and the raven couldn't help but smirk into his tea cup. "That's not something I want to talk about with you." 

"Oh, Eren." the older woman laughed with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm 48 years old and more than aware of the fact that my baby boy is no virgin at your age."

Surprised by Carla's words, Levi barked out a laugh that seemed to delight the older woman and annoy his assistant who glared at him from the corner of his eyes. 

"Really, Sonnenschein? Cherry?"

"Oh, god, mom stop."

"Levi, please tell me you picked this flavor out and not my son?" she asked the raven almost pleadingly. 

"I must confess, Carla." Levi said, unable to stop himself from smirking. "I was the one who picked it. Eren wanted strawberry but I said no."

"I can't deal with both of you right now." Eren grumbled as he set his cup down and slipped out of the room. 

"Oh, Eren, Levi and I are only kidding!" Carla called out through more laughter. 

Shaking his head fondly as he watched the older woman chase after her son, Levi cradled his cup in both hands allowing the warmth to be absorbed by his chilled fingers. The last three days have been... nice, for lack of a better word. He found himself genuinely enjoying the Jaegers company, despite them being just a little intrusive at times. Lucky for them, Carla hadn't burst in on them in the early hours of the morning to catch Levi sleeping on the floor and Eren on the bed. Though, there were some close calls.

"Why did you have to encourage her?" Eren sighed as he re-entered the kitchen to claim his abandoned tea cup. "Now she's never going to stop teasing us about those damn condoms." 

Levi shrugged, "I don't mind." 

"Why do you even still _have_ those things? I thought you threw them out?"

"Honestly?" the raven said, catching Eren's stunningly curious gaze with his own. "I kept them in some vein hope that they'd come in handy the next time I bring a hot date home." he ended with a snort. 

"Oh..." the brunet said, the surprise and slight disappointment in his eyes so painfully clear to read that Levi immediately felt guilty for making such a bad joke. "Seriously?" 

"No, not seriously, you nerd." the older man sighed. "I just forgot those damn things existed after I shoved them somewhere in my medicine cabinet."

Eren's suddenly tense body seemed to relax at Levi's words and he laughed nervously, "Haha, oh, right. That makes more sense."

"What? Worried?" 

"Worried? About?" 

"That I wasn't saving them for you." the raven teased, thin lips curling up slightly as he saw the crimson blush creeping across the brunet's cheeks.

"N-No!" Eren protested heatedly. "Why would I―I mean, why would you think... ugh, you're such an ass." 

He couldn't help it, Levi laughed darkly because he knew he'd successfully embarrassed his adorable assistant and was the cause of that oh, so lovely blush on his cheeks currently. Now, if only there was some way for him to prove to Eren that his playful teasing was actually just his poor attempt at flirting and that he'd very much like to use those stupid cherry-flavored condoms with none other than the beautifully oblivious man standing less than four feet away from him.

"So, what's the plan for this evening?" Levi asked, deciding to have mercy on his poor flushing assistant by changing the subject.

"I'm not sure. I mean, my parents are gonna be here for another four days still."

"Mm." Levi hummed, doing his best to try and come up with some ideas to keep Eren's parents entertained while they were staying with them. "It's too bad we can't use the 'tour of the city' card." 

"I know." Eren chuckled. "Plus it doesn't help that my parents get all huffy if we offer to take them places. Honestly, I'm so fucking sorry they're so difficult." Teal eyes turned apologetic.

Levi shrugged again, "I don't see it that way." he admitted. "They're just independent." 

"Sure. That's one way to put it." Snorted Eren. "But, maybe we should try doing something for them."

"We could always take them somewhere nice for Dinner. I doubt your mom would be able to say no to that." 

"Oh, you clearly haven't met my mother, Levi." The raven stared at his from over the rim of his cup and wait for Eren to elaborate. "They might be loaded, but my mom is still a very frugal person. If she knew we were paying more than fifty bucks at a restaurant, she'd never let us live it down." 

"Seriously?" Levi asked, one brow cocked in question. 

"Seriously." 

"Tch, fine. Then... I guess we could try cooking dinner for them." 

He didn't need to hear Eren ask the obvious when he saw the brunet's eyebrows shoot up toward his hairline in clear surprise that he would _ever_ suggest that they make dinner themselves. Especially considering that Levi had made it clear once before that he had absolutely no skill in the kitchen beyond a very fancy omelette.

"Shut up. Don't say anything. I know I've already said that I'm a shit cook, but how hard could it be to make a simple dinner for four people?" the older man grumbled. 

"True." Eren said with a shit-eating grin. "But, just in case, we should go with a really simple recipe."

At that suggestion, Levi rolled his eyes and moved to rinse his empty cup out in the sink. "Don't fucking patronize me, Jaeger." 

"I'm not!" he laughed. "It's a serious suggestion. We've gotta go with something that neither of us can fuck up." 

"... Chicken." 

"Chicken." Agreed Eren. 

Suddenly, a loud succession of knocks was heard and it startled Eren and prompted Levi to shoot a suspicious glare down the hallway that led to the foyer. 

"Were you... expecting someone?" The brunet asked hesitantly. 

"No. But I have a pretty good idea who it could be." Levi frowned, drying his hands on a towel. "Only one person I know in the entire world has a knock that annoying." 

"Oh, no." he heard Eren mutter. 

"Yep." 

"HELLOOOOO~!!"

"Oh, no." Eren groaned. "How did she get in?" 

Taking a deep breath in to calm his growing irritation, Levi threw the towel in his hands down on the counter top and started for the foyer. 

"I stopped asking that question years ago." he growled under his breath as he marched to meet the uninvited nuisance. 

Levi could hear Eren padding after him as he walked out of the kitchen, then he heard plenty of excited chatter coming from the living room. The voices were unmistakably Hanji's and Carla's, though he could hear a bit of Erwin's deep baritone every now and again. As they rounded the corner, the two men were greeted by the sight of Hanji all bundled up in her thickest winter coat and scarf sans mittens and Erwin sitting down on the love seat with a brown paper bag held to his mouth as he breathed slowly and deeply. 

"What the fu-- I mean, what... are you doing here?" Levi asked through clenched teeth. 

"Well, hello to you too, Munchkin!" Hanji was quick to hurry toward the shorter raven and scoop him up into a tight, bone-crushing hug that had Levi wheezing in pain. 

"L-Let me go, you crazy bitch." he growled quietly into her scarf. "I can't fucking breath..." 

"Eren!" And like the hurricane that she was, Hanji was soon releasing Levi and hurtling toward Eren to give him the same type of hug Levi had only recently been on the receiving end of. "Aren't you always just a sight for sore eyes!" 

Gaining some of his lost breath back, Levi straightened his posture and smoothed down any wrinkles Hanji's hugs might have created in his t-shirt and cardigan. Grey eyes trailed over to see Erwin still looking like he had just seen a damned ghost, face a bit pale and hair a mess, which was unusual for him. 

"What's wrong with you, Eyebrows?" Levi asked. 

"Oh, don't mind him." Hanji laughed, appearing by Levi's side and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "He's just in a little shock because of the news we got today at the doctor's office." 

"What?" Suddenly, Levi felt his stomach drop and he did his best to hide any traces of concern and worry in his tone and expression. "What happened?" 

"Now, now, there's nothing to worry about." the brunette reassured with a firm squeeze to his shoulders. "Besides, we're being rude! First things first, introduce us, Levi!" 

The raven stared at the brunette suspiciously for a while before he decided to just take Hanji's word for what it was. She was never one to lie to him and if she said everything was fine then everything must be okay. Still, Erwin's current state still kind of had him on edge. What news could the doctor have told them that would have the ever unflappable Erwin J. Smith acting so uncharacteristically? 

"Right!" Eren thankfully interjected, taking the job of introducing his best friends to the Jaegers. "Hanji, Erwin, these are my parents, Carla and Grisha Jaeger. Mom, Dad, these are Levi's friends Hanji Zoe and Erwin Smith." 

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" Hanji smiled as she stepped forward and hugged Carla who welcomed the unexpected action openly. "Levi has told my honey bear and I so much about you. We were wondering if he was ever going to let us meet you." 

"Oh, then you're the friend he said was pregnant, yes?" Carla asked, honey brown eyes sparkling with excitement as her gaze drifted down to Hanji's stomach. 

"Is... he alright?" Mr. Jaeger asked, gesturing toward Erwin who had stopped breathing into the paper bag but was now reclined back against the love seat with his head titled toward the ceiling and his eyes closed. "If he's feeling ill, I could examine him." 

"What?" the blond suddenly snapped to attention, pale blues alert and maybe just a bit panicked. "Oh, no! I'm fine, really!" Erwin laughed, albeit a bit hysterically. Levi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his oldest friend and the blond gave him a pleading sort of look that told him more than words ever could. "I'm just... a bit lightheaded."

Grisha eyed the blond almost as suspiciously as Levi had but didn't try pressing Erwin further. "Well, if you feel ill again, let me know. I am a Doctor." 

"That's kind of you to offer." Erwin smiled wanly. "I'm fine. Truly." 

"Oh, Hanji! You're starting to show!" Carla's excited voice caught everyone's attention. The older brunette woman had her hand placed to Hanji's tiny baby bump while the owner of said baby bump was smiling from ear to ear. "Have you already started experiencing cravings?" 

"Yes, actually. Just the other day, I had the weirdest craving for pickles, strawberries and cream! I had my poor sugar butt go out to the store at 2 am on a Monday night, and it was snowing!" 

"Yes, well, anything for you, smoopy." Erwin chuckled. 

Carla gripped Hanji's hands in hers and herded her toward the couch and the younger brunette followed her happily. 

"So, how far along are you?" 

"Four months today." Hanji chirped. "But, despite the fact that it's still early into the pregnancy, my doctor said I might have to go on maternity leave a little earlier than usual." 

"What? Why?" Levi asked, eyeing Hanji up and down critically as he took a seat next to Erwin on the love seat, Eren sitting on the arm rest with one hand draped over his shoulder.

"Well, I guess now's as good a time as any to reveal the news we got at the doctor's office today..." 

Feeling his anxiety spiking, Levi unconsciously reached up and took Eren's hand that was resting on his shoulder into his own hand, lacing their fingers together. As if reading his mood, the brunet used his other hand to gently scratch at his undercut and the action quickly calmed him enough to the point where his tense body relaxed. 

"... Would you get on with it already?" Levi sighed irritably. "Stop trying to build dramatic suspense." 

"You're no fun." Hanji pouted. "Fine! We're having twins! Happy?" 

Carla exclaimed, hands flying to cover her mouth and Erwin seemed about ready to start hyperventilating again, one hand reaching for the brown paper bag once more. 

"Twins?" Eren laughed. "Hanji's that's... amazing!" 

"I KNOW, RIGHT!?" 

"That's amazing, isn't it, hon?" Eren asked, voice softer as he leaned forward to kiss the back of Levi's head. 

Despite himself, Levi couldn't help but let out a tiny little relieved breath as one side of his mouth curled up. He was... actually happy for his two friends. More than happy, really. Seeing the way Hanji practically glowed with how excited and happy she was, he would take this sight over the sad look in her eyes whenever she was reminded that she couldn't have children. It was such a difference from a year ago and he wouldn't have it any other way. 

"Well, shit." Levi chuckled quietly. "At least now I know why Erwin looks like he's about to have a nervous breakdown." 

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm happy." Erwin laughed nervously, hand running through his hair explaining why it was such a mess. "I just-- two babies? I was nervous enough when it was one but _two_?" 

"Honey bear," Hanji said, voice surprisingly soft and calm drawing everyone's attention to her, including Erwin. "It's going to be fine. We can handle this. Remember, we're a team." she smiled. 

Eyebrows furrowing, the blond stood up from his spot on the love seat slowly and approached his wife. He took a seat on the opposite side of her, wrapping both arms around her slight frame and hugging her tightly while kissing her temple lovingly. 

"You're absolutely right." he murmured softly into her hair. "We're the best team." 

"Damn right, we are!" the brunette giggled. 

"It was smart of your physician to suggest early maternity leave." Grisha said with an approving nod. "Too much stress on a mother pregnant with twins or triplets can be bad for the health of both. I hope you'll be heeding your doctor's words, Hanji." 

"Of course. Erwin's already insisted I take off work now, but I told him I'll tough it out for another month and then take my maternity leave." 

"If I thought eyebrows was being overbearing and overprotective before, I can only imagine what he'll be like now." Snort Levi as he and Eren stood up from their spots on the couch. "Before I'm considered a poor host, I'll get you both some tea." 

"Actually, just hot water and lemon, Munchkin." Hanji said, an apologetic smile on her face. 

Shaking his head fondly, there was no way Levi could be annoyed or angry with Hanji today of all days. He was much too relieved and happy for her to do that. 

"You got it, four-eyes." 

As Levi left the living room and entered the kitchen to start making tea for his guests, he couldn't help but feel very content with his life in that very moment. He could hear the excited chatter of Eren's parents and his friends from the living room and he thought it strange that there was suddenly so much life in his apartment when just a few months ago it was so painfully silent that he dreaded being home for long periods of time. Now, there was nowhere he'd rather be.

\- X -

Later that evening, Levi and Eren stood in front of the stove trying to figure out what went wrong. Well, actually, Levi could guess exactly what went wrong but he just couldn't understand how everything went wrong so quickly.

"How the hell did we manage to burn the simplest thing in the world!?" Eren cried as he used a dish rag to fan the smoke that was rising out of the oven.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Levi grumbled as he dumped the burned chicken into the sink. "We should have just taken them out for an expensive dinner and been done with it." 

"I'm starting to think that would have been a good idea. It's just a good thing Mom and Dad are out right now, otherwise this would be super embarrassing." 

As the two men hurried around the kitchen opening windows and fanning the smoke out, at some point Levi stopped and took one look at Eren, shirt a mess and cheeks smeared with flour and all kinds of other ingredients and he was sure he probably looked no better if not worse. Grey eyes trailed over to the burned chicken sitting in the sink and suddenly Levi was fighting back a smile and doing his best to swallow down laughter. It seemed he was losing the battle however. 

Eren stopped to give him a strange look when the brunet saw the raven motionless and slightly hunched forward, but he quickly understood why when he saw the hand that was covering Levi's mouth and the way his shoulders slightly shook with quiet laughter. 

"You're laughing." he pointed out with a smirk of his own. "That's becoming a regular thing for you recently, you know." 

"S-Shut up, Jaeger." Levi said past a chuckle as he threw a towel at the smug brunet's face. 

Eren caught it with ease and then he was just standing there leaning against the counter while staring at the older man and smiling. The sight of Eren, all disheveled and a little bit sweaty from all the running around just made Levi's laughter increase and he had to make a run for it. He slipped out of the kitchen and started toward his bedroom, but Eren was quick to follow him. 

"Oh, no! You're not getting away that easily, boss!" he laughed, footsteps heavy as he took chase. 

"Do-Don't follow me, dumbass." 

"You can't tell me what to do. We're not in the office, you're not my boss and I'm not your assistant." Sassed the younger man as he caught Levi by the wrist just as he hurried into the bedroom. 

"Eren," Levi tried saying without laughing, but it didn't help when he looked up just in time to see himself in the mirror placed near his closet door. He definitely looked no better than Eren and the sight of his hair sticking up in all direction at the back made him splutter before he was full-on laughing again. "We look like shit." he wheezed.

"So what?" Eren asked, his grip on Levi's wrist slipping. Then, with one firm pull, he had Levi against his chest. "I think we look great. Never better actually." 

"Damn it, Eren." the raven cursed as he tried to pull away from the impromptu hug initiated by the brunet. He could smell the smoke on Eren's clothes and he was sure he smelled the same. "This isn't funny." 

"Then why are you still laughing?" 

When Levi did manage to wiggle free at least, he was surprised when Eren quite literally tackled him onto the bed and his back collided with the mattress, his assistant's crushing weight on top of him and making it hard to breath yet he couldn't stifle the laughter. It was like someone left the faucet on and the laughter was literally overflowing out of him. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, Eren stopped crushing him with his body and it was easier for Levi to roll onto his side and hide his smiling face into the duvet. 

"Stop hiding your face, damn it." 

"Fuck off, Jaeger." 

"No." the brunet said defiantly. "I like the sound of your laugh and I wanna see your face." 

Well, that got the laughter coming to a screeching halt. Not literally, but close enough. It didn't take long for Levi's laughter to finally peter out and he was finally able to catch his breath. The raven kept his face buried in the duvet, however, because now he knew it was probably on fire due to Eren's words. 

"Levi..." came his name whispered on kissable lips. "Look at me." 

And like a charmed snake, he did as was asked of him, face turning slowly from the duvet to stare up at the glittering teal gems staring back down at him. It was a shy look at first, hesitant and meek until the brunet coaxed his body onto it's back and they were finally face to face. Levi could only handle Eren's full gaze in small doses, however, and it wasn't long before he felt his face heating up and he had to look away. Eren wasn't having it, though. 

"Don't." he said softly, warm fingers gently tracing his cheekbone and then his jawline. 

_Stop this_ , his brain was telling him but every cell and fiber of his body was screaming at him to let this happen. He could feel the distance between their faces getting smaller and smaller and finally he couldn't resist any longer. Grey eyes flicked back up and caught on those plush lips that he'd tasted only a handful of times by now. As if sensing this, Eren took the initiative and brushed his lips softly against Levi's. That familiar electricity surged through him and had every hair on his body standing on end, his fingers twitched, tempted to reach up and sink into that unruly head of hair and just pull him closer... _closer_. 

He was so tired of holding himself back and always wondering if Eren felt the same way. Wasn't the fact that Eren was initiating all this his answer? Clearly, he wasn't the only one feeling _something_ for the other and just knowing that should be enough, shouldn't it? 

_Shouldn't it...?_

When he felt Eren sigh against his lips and start to pull away, his heart sank and he panicked. He waited to long to decide and now Eren thought he wasn't interested. No, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. In a rush, when Eren began to rise and move away, Levi gripped onto his torso and suddenly he was flipping them so that their positions were reversed. Eren below and Levi hovering above, face to face, eyes locked in an intense gaze. Face hot, heart pounding, fingers trembling; this was unlike anything Levi had ever experienced before with anyone and he was just so fucking _scared_ but he wanted this―god, how he wanted this more than anything. 

Eren opened his mouth to speak but Levi quickly silenced him with a kiss so fierce that the younger man below him squeaked in surprise but the little noise was swallowed up by Levi's hungry lips as he assaulted Eren's mouth with his own. There was a deep sort of relief he got from finally kissing those lips just the way he wanted to, pouring all his feelings into that one kiss, hoping he could just let this gorgeous idiot below him know how much he... how much he _loved_ him.

Distantly, Levi felt one of Eren's hands fist into the back of his cardigan while the other one cradled the back of his neck. So lost was he in the kiss that he barely registered who slipped who the tongue first. He couldn't really care at this point, his only thoughts were of the beautiful man beneath him kissing him back with almost the same amount of passion as he was kissing him. But it wasn't enough, just kissing him and playing a playful game of tag with his tongue. He needed so much more than that―so much more.

"Levi." came that familiar breathy voice when he broke the kiss to start sucking at Eren's neck. 

He could taste the salt of Eren's skin, practically feel his heart beat when he pressed his tongue against his pulse point. Hands traveled across his torso, up and down his ribs and down his back and shoulder blades. It was like all his senses were overloaded and the only things he could make sense of was Eren. Smelling and tasting his skin, feeling the warmth of his body with his fingertips, hearing the way his breathing stuttered when he bit down a little too hard on a sensitive spot, watching the way that blush spread across his face down to his neck―he couldn't get enough of it all. 

"Boys? Why does it smell like something burned in here? And why are all the windows― oh!" 

At the sound of Carla entering the bedroom and her voice snapping him out of his hazy thoughts, Levi froze in his ministrations and Eren tensed up underneath him as well. Well, fuck. This was so beyond awkward that Levi couldn't even begin to describe it into words. 

"Never mind. Carry on." the older woman giggled as she began to leave the room once more, closing the door behind her.

When the door clicked shut, Levi sighed heavily and quickly rolled off of Eren who had his face buried in his hands while groaning into them. 

"Oh my god, that was so embarrassing. Why does she always have the worst timing?" he grumbled. 

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Levi couldn't help but snort before he scrubbed at his face. He was just as mortified as Eren was but he figured it could have been worse. 

"At least she didn't catch up doing something else." Levi reasoned. 

He chanced a glance over at the brunet who was peeking out through the spaces of his fingers to look at him. 

"About that kiss..." came Eren's muffled voice through his hands. 

The raven sighed. "Before you go any further, Jaeger, let me just get something out in the open." Eren was silent, obviously waiting for Levi to continue. "That kiss was... I'm not gonna lie, I've been wanting to do that for awhile now." 

"Really?" the brunet asked and Levi couldn't almost hear the disbelief in his voice. 

"Yes, now shut up and let me continue because I despise confessions." Swallowing thickly, Levi took a deep, shaky breath and prepared to embarrass himself in front of his assistant. "Recently, I've found myself having... feelings for you. Strong feelings. Annoying feelings." 

Suddenly, Eren was sitting up and moving closer to him but before the brunet could touch him and incite another heated make out session like the last one, Levi stood up from the bed. 

"Levi, I―"

"Eren, please." the older man stopped him, an almost pleading look on his face. "Let's not... do this right now. I just took a huge leap here by telling you how I felt and I don't think it's a good idea for you to give me a response right away. Fuck, I'm so bad at this shit." he began pacing the length of his room, hands carding through his hair and mussing it up even more than it already was. 

"Okay." Eren said, voice even and calm. "Can I just say something though?" 

Putting a halt to his pacing, Levi hesitantly looked over at the brunet sitting at the edge of his bed, large, doe eyes staring at him so intensely that it was almost hard to meet them. 

"That depends."

"I just want to say, you're a hella great kisser, holy crap. How have you been single all this time?" 

That ridiculous sentence managed to ease some of the anxiety building up in Levi's chest and he huffed out a laugh despite himself. 

"Do we really want to go down the list of all the reasons for why I'm so fucked up and still single at thirty-three?" Levi smiled wanly. 

"No." Eren smiled back. "But for what it's worth, you don't have anything to worry about." 

Jesus fucking christ, why did Eren have to say that while blushing so adorably and looking away? Levi's frazzled nerves could not handle this right now. He needed... well, he wasn't quite sure what he needed right now but he needed... _something_.

"Just... take some time and think about this, alright? I'm gonna go take a shower. I smelled like burnt chicken." 

"So do I but you don't see me complaining, clean freak." 

As he walked off toward the bathroom, Levi halfheartedly shot Eren the bird and heard him bark out a laugh before he shut the door behind him. Finally, he was alone and he could torture himself in the shower by overthinking everything that just happened and then bombarding himself with self-deprecating insults and reasons for why Eren would never date the depressed, nervous wreck that was himself. Yep, Sounded like a plan to him.

\- X -

Once Levi was showered, he helped Eren clean up the kitchen and the mess they made before they decided ordering take out was the best option. Carla and Grisha didn't seem to mind at all, in fact, Carla seemed pretty smug through out dinner. Levi couldn't understand why, but didn't dare ask. Something told him it had something to do with the forming hickey on Eren's neck.

When it got late enough, The Jaegers turned in for the night and Levi lingered in the kitchen washing cups that really didn't need washing. It was just him trying to stall before bed because going to bed meant seeing Eren and seeing Eren meant reliving that kiss from earlier and well, he'd rather not do that right now. 

"Coming to bed soon?" Eren asked in a soft voice that broke Levi out of his swirling thoughts. 

"...Yeah. In a bit." he answered automatically, hands still busy drying off the last few cups in the sink. 

"I think those cups are as clean as they'll possibly get." the younger man snorted as he walked over to the raven and gently grabbed his hand. 

Levi didn't startle or jerk away from the sudden touch, in fact, he was drawn to it. He allowed Eren to take the last cup from his hand and set it back in the sink, abandoning it as he dried Levi's wet hands with a towel and then guided the man back to the bedroom. The bed had already been turned down, but there were no signs of Levi's makeshift bed on the floor where he'd been sleeping the last couple of nights. 

"I did what you asked and I took some time and thought about what happened earlier." 

Levi watched as Eren sat at the edge of the bed and beckoned him forward with a sweet little smile. When he closed the distance between them, Eren grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up until it was over Levi's head. With his shirt gone, tossed carelessly somewhere he couldn't be bothered to know, Eren took his hand in his own and yanked him down onto the bed with him. 

"Eren, what―" 

"You're sleeping on the bed tonight." was all he said as he crawled over Levi's half-naked body to reach across the bed and shut off the lights. 

"That's probably a bad idea..." he mumbled to himself quietly. 

"Why?" Eren asked, slipping under the sheets next to him once his own shirt had been shed. Already Levi could feel the intense heat radiating off of his assistant's body, doubled by the fact that he was shirtless. "Because you won't be able to keep your hands to yourself?" he chuckled. 

"Exactly." growled Levi as he moved to pin the brunet down. Eren didn't seem at all shocked or surprised when he did so, instead smirking up at him, hands once again wandering over his upper body and making him shiver all over. "I don't think I can hold myself back." Levi whispered into the darkness. 

"Who said you had to?" Eren whispered back, lips latching onto Levi's collar bone and nipping lightly. "And who said I wanted you to?" 

"Eren..." 

"I know, Levi."

Strong arms wrapped themselves tightly around his body, hugging him against a broad, bare chest beneath him. Once again, Levi didn't struggle, didn't try to flee; he simply allowed it to happen and he was more than content to lie in Eren's arms. 

"... I'm bad at this relationship shit and I honestly have no idea what we're even doing anymore." 

"I know." Eren repeated. "But you don't need to figure it all out now. We can take this slow. One day at a time. Right now, all you need to know is that I want this― I want you." 

Hearing those words... it made his heart ache but in the best way and he sighed against Eren's warm skin, body relaxing and going limp and his eyes growing heavy. It helped that he could hear the rapid beats of Eren's heart and the rhythmic melody it made lulled him to sleep quicker than he'd ever been before. For once, he was more than happy to let that familiar darkness embrace him, because he knew that the warm arms wound tightly around him were Eren's and that's all he needed. For once, he wasn't afraid...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk what's happening anymore (': I had a plan for the next ten chapters but these two assholes decided to fuck it all up, so, whatever.
> 
> hahahaha I'm such a piece of shit, it took me over a month to update this fic and I'm so fucking sorry


	21. Whatever you want, Whatever you need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _"♪ Ain't never felt this way, can't get enough so stay with me_   
>  _It's not like we've got big plans, lets drive around town holding hands_   
>  _And you need to know you're the only one, alright, alright_   
>  _And you need to know that you keep me up all night, all night ♪"_
> 
> **ILYSB - **LANY****   
> 

Levi woke up the following morning feeling extremely warm and surprisingly comfortable. He drifted between full consciousness and sleep for several minutes before his brain finally shook the last remnants of sleep. As he stirred around, he found that his upper body was constricted by a strong pair of arms that seemed to be grounding him, literally. For a brief second, Levi panicked, but then the events of the previous night slowly came back to him and he let out a soft sigh that tickled Eren's neck. 

"Levi?" a sleep-rough voice whispered. 

"...Hm?" 

"You okay?" 

Hearing the slight concern in Eren's voice, Levi returned the tight embrace Eren had around him and squeezed him in reassurance, loving the way their bodies seemed to be molding against each other perfectly. 

"Yeah." he murmured, then he shifted his neck up so that his lips brushed against Eren's throat. "I'm more than okay." 

And for once he believed his own words. He really did feel good for a change. For the first time in probably years, he didn't wake up with his heart racing, anxiety gripping at the forefront of his subconscious. He spent too many years waking up every day with terrible anxiety that he'd forgotten what it felt like to wake up and not feel sick to his stomach or like he couldn't catch his breath. It was so liberating. 

"We should get up soon." Eren chuckled, absently tracing circles into Levi's back and shoulder blades with his fingers. 

"Not yet." Levi huffed, leaving a trail of lazy kisses up and down the soft skin of Eren's throat. "It's still early. Your parents will understand if we sleep in just a little." 

Suddenly, Levi's world was turned topsy-turvey when Eren rolled them over so that he was now straddling Levi's waist and staring down at him. He was a gorgeous sight to see from Levi's point of view, bathed in morning sunlight that reflected in his eyes and brought out the very subtle blond undertones in his chocolate brown hair. How anyone could look that flawless as soon as they woke up, Levi had no fucking clue. All he knew was that the ethereal creature hovering above him made his heart pound dangerously fast and took his breath away. 

"How quick you are to completely disregard your own strict routine." Eren smirked. 

"Yes, well, can you blame me?" Levi snorted back. "Now, I've got something worth staying in bed for." 

"Such as?" 

"A very gorgeous distraction with legs for days." 

Almost immediately, Eren was blushing and sitting up straight while covering the lower half of his face with a hand and looking away from Levi's intense gaze bashfully. 

"Fuck, Levi. I thought you said you were bad at flirting, yet here you are being a smooth bastard out of nowhere." 

With a smug smirk of his own, the raven shrugged his inked shoulders nonchalantly. "Maybe I've been practicing. You don't know." 

Expression suddenly fierce, Eren pinned Levi's arms down against the mattress. "I hope you haven't been practicing on anyone else but me." 

"You wound me." Levi chuckled. "I'd never dream of flirting with anyone else."

"You'd better not." the brunet straddling his waist murmured before leaning forward and biting down on the raven's bottom lip. "You're mine now, Levi Ackerman." 

Feeling his breath stutter, hearing those words said so possessively, Levi swallowed and did his best to crane his neck up to meet Eren's lips in a chasing kiss. He craved Eren like he'd never craved anything before in his life. Just knowing that the feeling was mutual, well, it definitely got his blood pumping. 

"Thought we were going to take this slow." Levi whispered as he and Eren exchanged quick, teasing kisses.

"I take it back." Eren said in a husky voice that made Levi melt. "I don't want to take anything slow at all." And just as he finished that sentence, his hands began to wander south of Levi's body, starting from his pectorals, down his abs and then they stopped momentarily when they reached the hem of his boxer-briefs. 

"Tch, so impatient." Levi growled against his lover's lips. Eren chuckled and then he was playfully tugging at the elastic. 

"I'm surprised at you, Levi." 

"Why?" 

"You're not objecting to a little heavy petting despite the fact that my parents are just down the hall?" Seeing the impish grin on Eren's face when they broke their kiss, Levi settled Eren with a heated look that spoke more than words would ever do.

"When it comes to you, I find it extremely hard to say no." 

"Good to know." 

Just as they were about to resume their little game of cat and mouse, a set of knocks at the door startled the both of them. Eren shot up from his position bent over Levi, eyes comically wide. He literally looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Levi on the other hand wasn't really in any position to sit up, thanks to Eren still having him pinned down to the bed. 

"Boys? Are you awake?" Carla's sweet voice filtered through the wood of the door just loud enough for them to hear her clearly. 

"Um, J-Just a sec, Mom!" 

"Oh, if you boys are busy, don't worry about getting dressed! Your father and I just wanted to let you know we're going back to Shiganshina a few days early." 

Nearly tripping as Eren tried to shoot out of the bed, his foot got tangled in the sheets and all but caused him to face plant. When he was finally on his feet Eren looked around the room frantically before he spotted his shirt and rushed to pick it up. Suddenly and without warning, he threw the discarded shirt at Levi hitting him square in the face and causing him to grunt in displeasure. 

"Sorry!" he squeaked in apology.

Removing the shirt from his face, Levi frowned at him but his expression lacked any real indignation.

"Put it on. I'm going to open the door." Eren warned as he moved to reach for the door handle. 

Not needing to be told twice, Levi quickly slipped the slightly over sized shirt over his head. Just as he finished tugging the soft cotton material over his bare chest, Eren was opening the door to a fully dressed Carla. She looked a little surprised to see Eren answer the door but it didn't take her long to flash that familiar, warm smile. 

"Mom, what do you mean you and dad are going back early?" Eren wasted no time in asking. 

 

"Oh, Eren. I told you not to bother getting out of bed. It's not as though your father and I can't take care of ourselves." Carla chided halfheartedly. Peering around Eren slightly, she smiled and waved at Levi who gave her a small smile in return. "Good morning, Mäuschen. I'm sorry to bother you." 

 

"Good Morning, Carla. It's no bother at all." the raven shook his head. 

"What happened? Is something wrong back home?" Eren asked, concern coloring his voice and telling Levi just how worried he was. 

"No, no. It's nothing like that." the brunette placated him quickly. "Didn't you watch the weather report last night?" 

"Weather report?" 

"You mean about the storm?" Levi piped up. "I heard something about it." 

"Yes, they said it would be very bad weather for flying and that the airports would likely be shut down for the new year. Your father and I just decided we'd be better off going home now before that happens and we're stranded here." 

Stepping forward and touching her son's cheek, Carla rubbed her thumb up and down his cheekbone and murmured something to him quiet German. Levi simply stayed sitting in the middle of the bed, surrounded by rumpled sheets and a wrinkled duvet. It was better for him to stay sitting, considering the fact he was only wearing his underwear and Eren's t-shirt. He tried not to get distracted by the fact that the fabric smelled of whatever detergent he used and that familiar scent Levi had come to associate with Eren. 

"Well... Alright." Eren finally relented. "At least let Levi and I take you to the airport." Looking back over his shoulder, Eren flashed his big, doe eyes at Levi in silent question. 

"Of course." Levi agreed without missing a beat. 

"Oh, nonsense!" Carla dismissed. "Don't put yourselves through anymore trouble because of us. You've both done enough. Grisha and I are more than capable of taking ourselves to the airport." 

"But, Mom--"

"Eren Michael Jaeger, I don't want to hear another word. I said no." With her hands on her hips, Carla adopted a very familiar stance, one that Levi had become all too familiar in the last few days. That was Carla's Mom-pose, the one she used whenever she said something with total finality. 

The raven heard Eren give a strained garble of distress in the back of his throat before the brunet finally gave up with a heavy sigh. 

"Fine!" he huffed. 

"Good." Carla beamed. "I made you boys some pancakes. They're on the kitchen table. I want you both to eat as soon as your father and I are gone." 

"You're not even staying for breakfast?" Eren asked, surprised. 

"Sweetheart, It's nearly one in the afternoon." the older brunette tittered. "Breakfast came and went."

"...What!?" Eren squawked.

"What...?" Levi parroted. 

Looking over to the night stand next to his bed for the first time since he woke up, Levi looked at the bright neon green numbers that did indeed read a quarter after twelve. Well, shit.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry, Mom. I guess we just lost track of time." Eren said apologetically. 

"It's fine, Sonnenschein. Stop apologizing. You and Levi are entitled to sleeping in a little late every now and again." the older woman said warmly. "Especially poor Levi, with his insomnia and all." 

"At least let us walk you out of the building, Carla." Levi offered. "Otherwise I'd feel like a poor host if we just let you walk yourselves out." 

"Well..." the woman contemplated. "Alright. If you insist." 

"Great. Just give us ten minutes to get washed up and dressed." Eren smiled. 

Giving his mother a loving kiss on the cheek, Carla was turning to walk down the hall and Eren was closing the door behind her. With a heavy sigh, the brunet slumped against the door before shooting Levi an apologetic stare. 

"Stop it." the raven said with a roll of his eyes. "If you star saying you're sorry I'm going to kick your cute little ass." 

"But--"

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Now shut up and go use the shower first while I look for something to wear."

Saying nothing more, Levi finally crawled out of the bed and took a second to stretch and pop his back and shoulders before he was stripping Eren's t-shirt off his back and folding it neatly in his hands. Slowly, Eren woefully dragged himself into the bathroom and started running the water.

\- X -

Saying goodbye to the Jaegers was a long and drawn out process. Mostly because Carla kept hugging Levi and kissing his cheeks while telling him in a thousand different ways just how happy she was that he was joining their family. Of course, Levi wasn't complaining. A little awkward, yes, naturally, but there was absolutely no way he could ever be displeased with anything Carla Jaeger ever did.

Even Eren's reserved father gave Levi a hug, which wasn't as warm as Carla's but just as accepting, if that made any sense. The hug was stiff and brief but Levi understood the meaning behind the layers of, oddly enough, professionalism. But, once they'd seen the Jaegers off in their car, Levi and Eren retreated back up to the apartment where the obvious signs of his recent vacancy were painfully evident. It was so quiet now and Levi would admit that he missed the sound of idle chit-chat that often drifted in from whatever room the Jaegers occupied throughout the day. 

Levi entered the kitchen, with Eren following him behind him shortly after. The raven ignored his presence for now, in favor of making himself a much needed cup of tea before anything else happened. He had a creeping feeling that Eren was going to want to talk now that his parents were gone and it was safe for them to discuss their situation and where they stood. Though, Levi had hoped that their earlier conversation in bed would have said everything. Still, as he busied himself with steeping his tea bag in his mug, out of the corner of his eye Levi could see the way the brunet fidgeted awkwardly, like he suddenly didn't know what to do with his body. 

"So," came Eren's timid voice after several minutes of tensed silence. 

"So." Levi repeated, never taking his eyes off his task. 

Eren was silent for a few seconds before he finally chuckled nervously. "I guess it would be a dumb question to ask what happens now, huh?" 

Finishing up with his tea, Levi set the mug aside and turned to look at his new lover who looked more nervous then he'd ever seen him look before and that was saying a lot. Maybe Levi wasn't the only one who was terrified of putting his heart on the line and having it smashed into a million pieces, beyond any repair? That was silly, of course he wasn't the only one, he just hadn't realized Eren was probably just as scared and nervous about this as he was. 

"That would be a pretty dumb question, yeah." he answered with a smile and a slight tilt of his head. "Was all that shameless flirting in bed earlier just to get me hard?" he teased. 

"N-No!" Eren blurted, looking very caught off guard and flustered. "No, definitely not. I totally meant it... um, but, what about you?" 

"What about me?" Levi asked, shifting his body around so he could lean back against the counter top while crossing his arms over his chest. That easy smile stayed on his face, however.

"Do you, uhm, well, you know..."

"...?" 

"Do you... still wanna do... this?" 

Seeing the way Eren's eyes shifted between staring at Levi and staring at his bare feet against the tile, the raven eventually sighed softly and pushed off from the counter. He closed the distance between them reaching up and grabbing Eren's chin so that the brunet would fucking look at him and not his damn toes. Bright, teal eyes stared back at him with open hesitation and slight fear and Levi was all too eager to banish that look from those gorgeous eyes. 

"Eren." 

That was all it took to have those eyes softening, to chase that fear away; one soft name caressed by his tongue and said with so much tenderness it hurt. Abruptly, Eren was surging forward and capturing Levi's lips in a ferocious kiss that spoke volumes. It wasn't long before Eren was lifting Levi up from the backs of his thighs and sitting him on the counter top while Eren continued to hungrily devour his lips. 

They kissed each other desperately and a little messily. Levi didn't care about that, however, as he just needed to satisfy the burning need inside him that just craved this intimacy. It was all too easy to get lost in that kiss, especially when tongues came into play. Eren could say what he wanted about Levi's impressive kissing skills, but he wasn't so bad himself. When he started sucking on Levi's tongue, it earned him a soft, breathy moan from the raven who just couldn't keep his hands off of the brunet. 

He ran his hands through Eren's unruly hair, down the sides of his face, his neck, chest and finally he gripped onto his hips and let his blunt nails bite into Eren's skin. Meanwhile, Eren was just as desperate to get his hands underneath Levi's knit sweater to run his hands over his abs and ribs. It was overwhelming, just as it was the night before right before Carla walked in on them. Overwhelming; but not nearly enough. He still needed so much more but at the same time he was content with just this. 

Eren kissed him until he was quite literally breathless, but each time the brunet pulled away to let them both breath, Levi was quick to chase his lips after taking less than a breath before they were at it again. They kissed each other like they'd never needed anything else before in their entire lives, with a frantic desperation of a drowning man with no air and no surface in sight and when they weren't kissing each other's lips, they were marking some part of the others body. Eren getting his turn at sucking at Levi's pulse point this time and leaving an angry red mark behind in his wake; visual proof that he planned on making good on his words. 

And while Levi would have been perfectly content with staying right where they were and continuing this little kissing game of theirs, they were once again forced apart by the sound of someone gasping loudly and another snorting rather unattractively. Breaking their kiss, Levi and Eren turned to see Hanji and Erwin standing in the kitchen's doorway and openly gaping at them. 

"Oh. My. GAWD." Hanji exclaimed. 

"Honestly, it's not even a surprise anymore." Erwin said with a smirk. 

Upon being caught, Eren squeaked in surprise and broke away from Levi's hold, much to the raven's displeasure. There was really no hiding his annoyance with the idiot couple standing in his apartment very much uninvited. 

"Fucking Hanji." he ground out angrily. 

Despite his absolute best glare being directed at her, the brunette was already immune to Levi's naturally intimidating looks. The perks to being his best friend for the last sixteen years, he supposed but still grating nonetheless. 

"Oh, get the stick out of your ass, Munchkin. It's not like Erwin and I didn't already know about you and Eren." Hanji cackled, which only further irritated Levi as he hopped off the counter top and started smoothing down nonexistent wrinkles in his sweater to hopefully cover the semi he was sporting. 

"Out." he growled through clenched teeth. 

"But, Levi, we just got here." Erwin nearly pouted. Clearly, Hanji's habits were rubbing off on him, which wasn't a surprise considering they were married.

"Get out." he repeated once more. 

"Levi--" 

"OUT."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, horribly fucking sorry for not updating this for a month a half. The holidays were a bitch. 
> 
> Also sorry about the length of this chapter, but the next few chapters will probably be similar in length as these will be the build up chapters to the next and final arc of the story. 
> 
> Yep, getting near the end here guys. We've got about nine more chapters to go, if all goes to plan. Thanks for being patient with me and also thanks to all you kind readers out there who have been leaving me such lovely comments on this fic over the last month! <333 You're all so sweet.


	22. Silent Confessions

New Year's Eve found Levi spending it, unsurprisingly, with Hanji, Erwin, Mike and Nanaba. While he would have loved to spend New Year's Eve with his very recently new lover, Eren had a previous engagement with his sister Mikasa and who was Levi to stop him from spending time with his family? Eren had suggested they go to Mikasa and Jean's together, but Levi firmly refused. He didn't feel up to a six hour flight to California a day before New Year's Eve. Just the thought of how congested the airports would be gave him chills and he was in no rush to go on yet another plane after the last plane he took to Germany, which now feels like such a long time ago. 

Had it really only been a couple of months since this whole thing with Eren started? 

"I'm surprised you're not drowning yourself in wine yet, Levi." Erwin's booming baritone drew his attention over to where the big blond was sitting casually on a couch with Hanji wrapped up protectively in his arms. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Levi grumbled. He was sat across from the pregnant couple occupying an entire love seat for himself, legs curled underneath him with a stemless wine glass in one hand, though, he'd taken a total of three sips since he poured it. 

"Well, usually at a social gathering, you've had at least two glasses of wine by now. You've barely made a dent in that one you poured an hour ago." 

The raven couldn't help but roll his eyes when he noticed the knowing smirks Hanji and her husband exchanged. "Here we go."

"Maybe he doesn't feel the need to get shit-faced anymore now that he's got a super cute new boyfriend to keep him busy." Hanji giggled with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows.

"Oh! That's right." Erwin grinned. "I'd almost forgotten about that."

"Honestly, Sugar bear!" Came the mock-gasp of outrage and a playful swat from Hanji.

"So, how are things with Eren going, Levi?" Nanaba's sweet voice chimed in, prompting Levi to look over at where she and Mike were curled around each other, Nanaba in Mike's lap while he occupied the recliner. They both had shit-eating grins and the raven let out an irritated huff.

"Yes, alright. Let's get it all out in the fucking open. Eren and I are... seeing each other." Levi said hesitantly.

"Well, hell, we all knew that the moment you walked in with that dopey look in your eyes." Hanji cackled. 

"Indeed." Erwin chortled next to her. "The mark of a lovesick fool."

As all his friends joined in the light teasing, Levi felt his cheeks heat slightly with embarrassment, but he didn't even bother trying to correct them because, well, annoyingly, they were right. The past few days spent with Eren had been perfect, to say the least. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were still currently in that perfect little bubble where nothing was wrong and they were both just drunk on one another, but regardless, this was the most well-rested Levi had ever been in probably his entire life and clearly it was noticeable. 

"He's not even denying it!" Hanji yelled with glee. "Our little baby porcupine is finally growing up, honey bunches!" 

"So it would seem, smoopy bear." 

While Hanji and Erwin made disgusting kissy-noises at one another, Levi directed his attention to his phone that had been clutched in his hand since the moment he left the apartment that morning. Levi had never been more obsessed or hyper aware of his own phone until just recently. He and Eren texted constantly whenever they couldn't be together, which was rare, but it came in handy like tonight. Levi found it extremely unsettling just how much he missed Eren while he was currently on the opposite coast visiting his sister and her husband. The distance was so painfully clear and Levi did not look forward to going home to an empty apartment tonight. 

**Eren** : I can't wait to go home and see you tomorrow. Jean's being an ass but what's new, right?  
 **Eren** : I miss you! :'(

Levi couldn't help it, his lips curled into a little smile as he read his most recent texts from Eren. Knowing that he wasn't alone in missing the other, he quickly started typing out a reply while his friends distracted themselves with each other. 

**Levi** : Never thought I'd be saying this but... I miss you too, Jaeger. Come home soon.

Thinking about it now, Levi really couldn't believe any of this was happening at all. If you'd told him he'd be dating his clumsy assistant and would also be stupidly in love with him a year ago, he probably would have laughed in your face. Now, however, it seemed like such a natural thing. He couldn't possibly imagine his life without Eren and he hoped he wouldn't have to find out what that would be like. Attention drawn back to his phone as it buzzed several times in his hands, Levi snorted to himself quietly when he saw the multiple texts from Eren with kissy-face and heart-eyes emojis. Levi typed out on last text before he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

**Levi:** Idiot... ♥

Suddenly, Hanji was suggesting something that had Levi immediately wishing he were a lot more drunk. 

"Karaoke!!" 

"Tch, no. I'm not drunk enough for that shit."

"Yessss, Levi! Come on! You know you're the only one of us who's got an amazing singing voice!" Hanji whined. 

Mike snorted suddenly drawing everyone's attention to him, "Unless you actually want to sit through two hours of Hanji's horrible singing? What's that song she always tries singing but can never remember the words to?" 

"Time After Time by Cindy Lauper." Levi and Erwin said in unison. 

Exchanging fondly exasperated looks with another, Levi and Erwin tried wrangling the pregnant brunette back down into her seat when she shot up from her spot on the couch while belting out the chorus to said song.

"Well," Levi started as he took another sip of his wine. "If you assholes want me to sing tonight, you're gonna have to get me a lot more drunk."

"Done!" the group said with big grins all around. 

"It's been years since I've heard Levi sing." Mike commented as Nanaba removed herself from her lap to help Hanji in the kitchen. 

"Well, you're gonna tonight!" Hanji called from the kitchen. 

Levi downed the rest of his wine in one go, "We'll see about that."

"Don't challenge her, Levi." Erwin warned. One thick brow raising up in clear indication of what he meant. 

"Bring it on." Snorted the raven. "We all know how high my alcohol tolerance is. Unless she plans on pumping me full of vodka and whiskey, I'll never be drunk enough."

"Alright." The blond singsonged. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

\- X -

Two hours later and he was already regretting challenging Hanji. It was exactly one hour until midnight and he was already feeling plenty buzzed and then some. Not drunk, not quite yet. Still, pleasantly buzzed was enough motivation for him to sing a small handful of songs, per Hanji's whiny request. Ironically, they were all cheesy love songs.

"See, told ya I could get him to sing!' Hanji laughed as Levi sat down with his fourth glass of Jim Beam and Coke. He'd abandoned the wine about an hour ago when he noticed it wasn't getting him buzzed fast enough. Not that he was in any hurry to get plastered, but he was kind of hoping to be at least a little buzzed in order to endure Hanji's horrible covers of her favorite N*Sync songs. 

"Shut it, Four eyes. I only sang so I could shut you up." 

"Aw, come on, Levi. You're telling me you weren't thinking of Eren while you were singing at least one of those dumb love songs?" the brunette teased him and in turn it resulted in the rest of his friends whooping and whistling suggestively. 

" _You_ picked all those songs for me to sing, idiot." Levi said with a very put upon sigh. 

"Fine. You pick your own song next time. You're up after Nanaba." Hanji pouted, before returning to her spot curled into Erwin's side. 

Taking a sip of his drink, Levi relished in the light burn of the bourbon on his tongue. It was nothing compared to the kick of drinking straight whiskey but it was enough to sate him. While Nanaba browsed through her selection of songs on the karaoke machine, Levi felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Shifting in his seat to fish the device out, he was not at all surprised to see that it was none other than Eren who was calling. He took a moment to appreciate the contact picture the giant nerd had set as his contact picture on his phone, which was a picture of the two of them in bed. 

Levi had been a little annoyed that Eren had taken the picture early one morning, but found he couldn't really stay angry when he saw the outcome of the impromptu picture. Levi was mostly obscured in the sheets with only his inky hair and the top part of his face discernible but his favorite part was how Eren was kissing the top of his forehead looking like a goddamn flawless piece of art as he always seemed to look in the morning. It quickly became Levi's favorite picture and it brought another little smile to his face and caused his heart to swell as he answered. 

"Miss the sound of my voice already, Jaeger?" 

A little sigh on other end of the line and then, _"Dear fucking god, yes, I do!"_

Standing up from his spot on the love seat, Levi decided to take his call out into the hall so he could flirt with his boyfriend in private and not get teased about it. 

"It can't possibly be that bad at your sisters." 

_"Uhm, did you forget she's married to fucking King of all Horses? Though sometimes I think he's actually part Ass, the way he brays all the time."_ Levi heard a distant shout of 'Hey! Fuck you, Jaeger!' and couldn't help but chuckle. _"Ugh, I love the sound of your laugh."_

Feeling his heart skip a beat at those words, Levi took a second to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. "... When are you landing tomorrow?" 

_"Not soon enough._ " he heard Eren growl irritably. He could definitely empathize with that. _"You have no idea how much I wish I was there with you right now."_

"I think I can guess how much." Levi teased. "But in all seriousness, when are you getting in? I'll meet you at the airport." 

_"I think I'll probably be there around six or seven in the evening. Depends."_ He heard some static between the call, a brief silence and then the sound of Eren's smug voice asking, _"Eager to see me so soon?"_

"Tch, don't make me hang up on you, Jaeger." the raven warned. The sound of Eren's laughter had him melting and wishing he could kiss those damn lips already. Yes, he missed him, did Eren even need to ask?

_"Don't hang up, I'm sorry!"_ the brunet apologized, though he was still laughing as he said it. 

"I find it hard to take your apology seriously when you're still laughing."

_"Fine, fine. I'll stop, see?"_ While Levi couldn't see his face, he could still hear the trace of a smile in Eren's tone as he spoke. _"I can't wait to see you tomorrow."_

Leaning against one of the walls in the narrow hallway, Levi sighed softly through his nose and gave in. "... I can't wait to see you either. This is so ridiculous." he laughed. 

_"What is?"_ came Eren's playful question. 

"It's only been, what, twenty-four hours since we last saw each other and we're acting like it's been weeks." 

_"So? We're entitled to miss each other and just for the record, it does feel like it's been weeks since I last saw you."_

"Yeah, but... it's just a little fucking weird, isn't it?" 

_"I don't think so."_ laughed Eren. _"But, it's nice to know that I'm missed. The first thing I plan on doing when I'm back is kissing the hell out of you in front of everyone at the airport."_

Levi snorted at that, "This isn't some cliche romance film, Eren." 

_"Like you don't want me to!"_

"... I never said that."

_"Good. Then I plan on going through with it anyway. And, hey, Levi?"_

"Hm?"

_"In case I don't get the chance to call you later... Happy New Year."_

Sighing into the phone, Levi couldn't help but smile. "Happy New Year, Jaeger. Hurry back so I can give you a proper New Year's kiss."

_"If I could, I would jump on the red eye tonight. Don't go kissing anyone else!"_ came the playful warning from his lover followed by a chuckle. 

"... Wouldn't dream of it." Levi promised.

They chatted a little while longer, that is, until Hanji started calling him to come and take his turn on the karaoke machine next. Eren had expressed just how dismayed he was at missing a chance to hear Levi sing again, but for once, Levi was glad he wouldn't hear this. With the way he was feeling currently, so overcome with emotion and an indescribable happiness, he didn't think he could resist serenading his new lover. 

He wasn't kidding when he said he still thought this was all a little strange, but in a good way. He felt like some lovesick teenager; all those typical cliches you hear about people who fall in love turned out to be somewhat, if not painfully, true. He missed Eren like crazy and knowing he was thousands of miles away was killing him because all he wanted to do was kiss and hold him and never let him go. He'd never felt this strongly about anyone before and while, yes, it was still frightening, he was slowly starting to accept it. He missed Eren because he loved Eren and while he wasn't ready to tell him to his face just yet, that didn't mean he couldn't proclaim his love to himself... for now.

"Levi, come on! It's your turn! It's going to be midnight soon!"

As the rest of his friends all chimed in in chanting his name, the raven pocketed his phone and made a quick stop into the kitchen to deposit his now empty glass in the sink. He didn't need the alcohol anymore, now that he was drunk and a little high from his conversation with Eren. God, he was really in some deep shit here, wasn't he? 

"Shut the hell up, I'm coming." he snapped back as he entered the living room. "I heard you morons the first time."

"Were you talking to Eren?" Nanaba asked with a big smile. 

"He must have been because he was gone for quite awhile." Mike pointed out, sounding just a little slurred. Too much of Hanji's damn spiked eggnog, Levi guessed. 

"Yeah, we were figuring out the arrangements for when he lands tomorrow." 

"Awww." came the simultaneous coos.

"Ugh, I hate all of you."

Not wanting to be subjected to anymore of his friends tipsy teasing, Levi walked over to the karaoke machine and started browsing through the wide selection of songs. He wasn't even really paying attention to the genre or categories he was picking but somehow, a particular song caught his attention and he had to bite back a little smile. He didn't care for the artist, but Eren had made him listen to this album just recently and this song in particular stuck out to him. 

Tapping the song title, Levi picked up the discarded microphone and placed it on the little stand Hanji had set up for them. A relic from their old garage band days, she'd jokingly said but Levi noticed that it actually was the old mic stand he used to use back in their college days. He gripped it firmly and a little wave of nostalgia hit him. He actually missed doing this, even if some of the memories from that time were dark and painful. Singing had always been his cure for everything. A slow, sultry beat began to play and he closed his eyes, unable to help how his imagination took over as he pretended that there was no one else in this room except for one very specific person and a pair of a bright, sparkling eyes glued to his figure as he began singing softly into the mic.

"♪ I'm finding ways to articulate the feeling I'm going through  
I just can't say I don't love you, 'cause I love you  
It's hard for me to communicate the thoughts that I hold  
But tonight I'm going to let you know, let me tell the truth  
Baby, let me tell the truth ♪"

It was so to imagine Eren sitting there, watching him with fierce, unwavering eyes that spoke volumes more than words ever would. Eyes that never failed to suck him in and drown him in their sparkling depths. Eren was like the ocean, Levi had figured out recently. He was fickle when he wanted to be, most days he was calm and steady, reminding him of gentle waves that caressed whoever entered their waters. Then there were times when he was upset or angry and he was a hurricane, swallowing everything up in the blink of an eye and merciless. When they kissed and Levi felt breathless, it was like he was being drowned beneath one of those merciless waves but it was a death he'd gladly take if it meant never having to go a day without those lips on his.

"♪ You know what I'm thinking, see it in your eyes  
You hate that you want me, hate it when you cry  
You're scared to be lonely, especially in the night  
I'm scared that I'll miss you, happens every time  
I don't want this feeling, I can't afford love  
I try to find a reason to pull us apart,   
It ain't working, 'cause you're perfect   
and I know that you're worth it, I can't walk away ♪"

"♪ Even though we're going through it,  
and it makes you feel alone just know that I would die for you  
Baby, I would die for you  
The distance and the time between us,  
It'll never change my mind, 'cause baby I would die for you  
Baby, I would die for you ♪"

Memories of the past few days flashed through his mind like a perfectly timed montage. The past week had been so full of Eren that he had an abundance of images playing through his head; the feel of Eren's lips pressed against his own, their warmth, the salt of his skin, the breathy little noise he made when he bit down a little too hard on Eren's neck. Levi had gotten the chance to map out the little valleys and plains of Eren's body over the last few days and he desperately missed the lingering touches and the whispered words said through the darkness.

"♪ I'm finding ways to manipulate the feeling you're going through  
But baby, I'm not blaming you, just don't blame me too  
'Cause I can't take this pain forever,   
And you won't find no one that's better,   
'Cause I'm right for you, I think I'm right for you ♪"

"♪ Even though we're going through it  
and it makes you feel alone just know that I would die for you  
Baby, I would die for you  
The distance and the time between us,  
It'll never change my mind 'cause baby I would die for you  
Baby, I would die for you... ♪"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used in this chapter is **Die For You** by The Weeknd. How amazing was his newest album, though??? AMIRIGHT???
> 
> Anyway, I'm dedicating this chapter to my lovely Waifu, Paulinkaaxx because this month has been stressful and she's been putting up with my dumb shit like a champ. Honestly, she deserves a fucking gold medal for that lmao 
> 
> You're too good to me, Sweet Pea <333


	23. Earnestly Yours

Levi spent majority of the following morning recovering from a mild hangover, no thanks to Hanji or Erwin. It wasn't like waking up in the couple's spare bedroom was anything new to him, considering his past with the both of them but it was an occurrence he had not recently been familiar with.

Still, once his two best friends finished having their fun and stopped torturing him by being purposely loud and overly boisterous, they were quick to help him start to remedy the slight headache and the bad taste in his mouth. 

"Guess what?" Hanji said excitedly, though she was clearly trying to suppress most of it. It was obvious in the way she fidgeted in her spot stood behind the kitchen island where Levi was sat across from her. 

The raven nursed a hot cup of coffee in one hand, and while he would have preferred tea, even he could admit to needing the caffeine boost. Tired, gray eyes peered up at her from over the rim of the white, porcelain mug he had raised to his lips and Levi waited patiently for the brunette to say whatever she needed to say. 

When she showed no signs of budging, he rolled his eyes and grudgingly set his mug down on the shiny, granite table top. 

"You know I hate guessing games, but, I'll bite. You're naming one of the babies after me?" then before Hanji could open her mouth with a retort, Levi rushed to continue. "Well, I'm flattered, really." he finished sarcastically.

"Ha-Ha-Ha." Hanji mocked. "No, we're not naming one of the babies after you, hot-stuff."

"Thank fuck." Levi mumbled quietly to himself. "Isn't the fact that I'm going to be their god father enough?" 

"Oh, I don't know, Levi." Erwin piped up as he re-entered the kitchen with a couple of empty mugs in his hands. Mike and Nanaba were sleeping off their hangovers in the living room, apparently. Levi had yet to go and observe last night's damage for himself. "I'm personally looking forward to watching the Priest spray you with holy water as your flesh starts to burn and melt off."

Hanji let out a loud, pig-ish snort of laughter and Levi simply flipped them both the bird. 

"But in all seriousness, Levi, we have some exciting news!" squeaked Hanji, Erwin coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders while he donned a rather large and goofy grin himself. "We found out the sex of the babies!" 

"Already?" Levi asked, genuine surprise coloring his tone as he forgot all about the steaming mug of coffee in front of him. 

"We found out day before yesterday." Erwin confirmed with a nod of his head. The joy on his face was so clearly evident and Hanji was practically glowing. 

"...Well?" the raven prompted. He would forever deny it but there was a touch of eager curiosity thinly veiled behind that one little question. 

"We're having a girl." Hanji giggled.

"And a boy." Erwin finished.

Taking a moment to let that sink in, Levi leaned back into the stool he was currently occupying. He didn't even care that the stool was so high that his feet were nowhere near the ground and his friends never ceased the teasing about his height whenever he sat in those stools but right now, he didn't care. Staring back and forth between the beaming faces of his two oldest and dearest friends, Levi felt a warmth blossom in his chest, not unfamiliar to him by now. Eren seemed to be getting him used to constantly feeling all warm and fuzzy these days but this was a different kind of happiness.

"Well... shit." he chuckled softly, a tiny smile stretching his lips as he reached back to rub at his undercut. "You two really hit the jackpot, didn't you?"

Hanji let out a breath of relief that morphed into laughter and then light sniffling as her eyes watered. Erwin was quick to wipe her tears away with a thumb and several kisses to the top of her head. 

"We really did." the brunette said, voice breaking but Levi could tell that her tears were happy tears. "I still can't believe we got so lucky." she hiccuped. Hanji was prone to lots of crying now that she was well into her fourth month of pregnancy. 

Erwin said nothing, but he didn't have to. Levi was more than aware of the way he managed to silently console his wife by just holding her close and kissing her softly, ever the strong pillar that held her up during the worst of times and vice versa. They really were the perfect team and Levi couldn't be any happier for them. He'd seen first hand the pain and sorrow they endured the last few years of trying and trying to conceive and always being broken a little more with each unsuccessful attempt. 

So see the way Hanji held her stomach protectively and the way Erwin stared at her with so much love and adoration in his eyes. It was obvious with each passing glance that they were still two people foolishly in love with the other and while Levi liked to gripe and moan about how disgusting their open displays of affection were, in truth, maybe it was simply envy all along. Now that he had taken that terrifying leap of faith and was also foolishly in love himself, he noticed what all those little touches and glances meant and it only made him all the more glad for his two friends. 

"I hope they don't inherit Erwin's caterpillar brows." he joked, prompting a bark of laughter from Hanji and a slightly wounded look from Erwin who unconsciously reached up to smooth down one of his eyebrows.

"Oh, don't listen to Levi, honey buns. I personally love your eyebrows." the brunette cooed. 

"... They're not that thick." Erwin grumbled, allowing himself to be yanked down into a kiss by his wife who bumped the tips of their noses together in the process. The kiss prompted laughter from him and soon the couple was all smiles and giggles once more.

"Alright." Levi frowned as he slid off the high stool. "I'm gonna get the hell out of here before I have to endure another disgustingly affectionate moment like that." 

"Oh, no, you don't!" Hanji beamed as the couple rounded the table and boxed the shorter raven in. 

Levi immediately recognized this formation and he quickly tried to turn tail and run before they could catch him in one of their annoying group hugs. 

"Fuck-- get away from me, damn it!" 

But it was too late, before he could even turn on his heel, Hanji was pulling him flush against her chest and squishing the side of his face against her clavicle while Erwin wrapped his big, burly arms around the both of them and squished Levi's other side against his giant man-pecs. The raven let out a string of hissed curses as he halfheartedly struggled against their death hug but after a few seconds, he relented and allowed his body to go limp. Resigned to his fate, Levi sighed heavily and simply let it be. 

"We love you, munchkin." Hanji cooed. 

"Yeah, yeah." Levi huffed. Though if anyone noticed the very small smile on his face, they didn't bring it up.

\- X -

Picking up Eren at the airport was surprisingly more nerve wrecking then he thought it would be and he had never been happier for the fact that he no longer felt hungover from the nights previous activities because with the amount of butterflies currently in his stomach, Levi couldn't decide if he was just too excited or if he was really terrified and needed to throw up.

Either way, when he spotted a painfully familiar head of unruly chestnut hair, golden skin and wide, ocean eyes searching over the sea of people, he felt a certain calm wash over him at just the sight of Eren and soon the mild nausea was replaced with more butterflies and the intense urge to kiss those lips, finally. 

He took a couple of steps in Eren's direction but it didn't take long for the brunet to spot him. Seeing the giant, mega-watt smile that spread across his lover's face before he started making a B line straight for him had Levi's heart pounding like crazy. It was almost funny, the way Eren nearly barreled towards him through the crowd but when he finally reached him, Levi was nearly swept off his feet with the sheer force of Eren's embrace that really was more of a scoop than anything else. 

A protest was on the tip of Levi's tongue but it was quickly forgotten when those warm, plush lips pressed firmly against his own, silencing any complaints and turning his brain to mush. Without even thinking about it, Levi wrapped his arms around Eren's neck and easily reciprocated the kiss, feeling the way Eren's lips slightly stretched into a smile when there was a collection of 'Aw's and wolf whistles from the other passerbys. While a cliche romance film this was not, Levi still felt a bit enchanted by the way Eren held him tight and kissed him like he hadn't seen him in years. 

When they both finally pulled away, Levi opened his eyes and saw Eren staring right back at him with that smile that made him just a little weak in the knees each time he saw it. 

"I missed you like crazy." Eren breathed out quietly, his grin broadening, if that were even possible. 

"Me too." Levi said without missing a beat. "More than I thought I ever would, Jaeger."

It was hard for them to separate from each other, but eventually they had to in order to get Eren's things and make their way out of the congested airport. Eren chattered on excitedly the whole time they waited for their car to come and pick them up, but Levi didn't mind at all. He loved listening to Eren talk and enjoyed watching the way his expressions changed. 

"But enough about my sister and her dick of a husband." Eren said once they were finally in their car and on their way back to Levi's apartment. "Tell me about your New Year's Eve." 

The raven snorted a little at his question before he answered. "There's not much to tell, honestly. I went over to Hanji and Erwin's, sat through an hour of Hanji trying to act out various scenes from movies and animals during charades, got plenty buzzed on wine and whiskey and then sat through everyone's shitty attempts at karaoke." he summed up.

Levi noticed that Eren just couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself the entire ride, but it's not like he really minded at all. He definitely liked the attention Eren was giving him, especially when he linked their hands and laced their fingers together. It was such a simple gesture but Levi found he loved holding Eren's hand. 

"You're telling me Hanji didn't try to get you to sing at all?" Eren chuckled, flashing Levi a dubious look that said he wasn't buying the lukewarm story he was trying to sell him.

"Of course she fucking did." the raven huffed. "That idiot kept picking the dumbest songs for me to sing." 

With an impish laugh, Eren pulled out his phone and started typing out something on his screen prompting Levi to shoot him a very suspicious glare. 

"What did you just do?" he eventually asked as the car pulled up to his building. 

Eren flashed him an innocent expression and shrugged a shoulder casually. "I have no idea what you're talking about." he sang as he got out of the car and dragged Levi along with him. 

Considering Eren's trip to his sister's was only for a day, he didn't have any luggage with him. Just a single carry on bag with a change of clothes and a few essentials, but that just made the trip up to Levi's apartment all the more comfortable as they simply stood close to each other in the spacious elevator. The ride up was silent but it wasn't awkward or strained in the least; in fact, Levi felt like the silence just charged the already static atmosphere around them. An odd sort of buzzing through his veins that set his blood on fire and got all the little hairs on the back of his neck standing on end and he was positive Eren felt that same electricity crackling between them. 

It was in the little ways Eren touched him; when his hand would softly brush against Levi's and the way he leaned into him just a little too closely and breathed against his neck. When their eyes met every so often, it was easy to see the slightly heated look Eren gave him, eyes hooded, pupils dilated and emerald eyes darkening with unspoken desire. The ride up those last few floors felt like they took an eternity and yet it was like they weren't reaching Levi's floor fast enough at the same time. 

When they finally did reach the top floor and the familiar chime of the elevator alerted them that they had reached their destination, some of that heated tension disappeared just a bit, so that they both remembered to step off the lift and walk down the spacious corridor that led to Levi's apartment. It was something of a challenge for Levi to get his door opened without him seeming eager or nervous in any way, but he managed by some miracle and soon he and Eren were alone in the absolute quiet privacy of his apartment.

That was when it all seemed to set in finally that what he noticed on the elevator wasn't all just in his head or his eyes playing tricks on him. Once the door was shut and locked, Eren was crowding him until he was pressed up against that door and those sinful lips were once again slotting perfectly against his own and sucking the breath out of him as hands began to wander and fist into clothing. Levi made short work of the cognac peacoat Eren had been wearing, hands gingerly pushing it off of Eren's shoulders so that it puddled to the ground by their feet and soon his heavy black over coat followed. 

Whatever little traces of the sunset was long gone by now and while the apartment was dark, a little bit of moonlight trickled in from the window in Levi's living room. Their kisses were quick and fierce, sometimes more teeth than anything but that was fine. Levi had learned some time ago that Eren didn't care much for being treated as though he were fragile glass and Levi had no problem playing it rough when it was asked of him. Lips were bitten and hands roamed underneath shirts and sweaters until deft fingers brushed against sensitive nipples and breathy moans were heard and swallowed up. 

"Eren..." Levi breathed out heavily, with whatever breath he could collect when Eren wasn't kissing him stupid.

"Yes, Levi?" Eren hummed playfully as his lips descended down Levi's jawline to his neck where the raven felt a hot, wet tongue pressed against his pulse point and the scrape of teeth. 

"W-Wait... I-I'm not... I can't... fuck..." 

Stopping his ministrations, the brunet glanced back up at the raven with hungry eyes that made silent promises to devour him whole. "Do you want to stop?" came Eren's surprisingly worried question. 

"Fucking hell, no." Levi said without a beat of hesitation. He didn't think he could stop now even if he did want to, which of course, he didn't. He _wanted_ Eren for weeks now, but in that moment when Eren asked if he wanted him to stop, Levi realized that it wasn't just because he _wanted_ Eren in a carnal way but also that he _needed_ him in the sense that if he didn't feel Eren's body pressed up against his like this, he felt like he would fall apart. "It's just... It's been awhile since I've... done this. With anyone." he mumbled, cheeks heating with embarrassment.

Hungry eyes suddenly flooding with understanding, Levi sighed into the soft kiss Eren placed on his lips. A gentle promise that he wouldn't force Levi to do anything he was uncomfortable with. They exchanged tender kisses for a short time, before Eren's hands began to wander once more and Levi was reminded of the low burning heat licking at the inside of his belly. 

He pushed against Eren's shoulders gently, just enough to help guide him in the direction of the bedroom, which currently felt like it was miles away but they managed somehow. Of course, their clumsy journey to the bedroom resulted in Eren bumping into a table twice and Levi nearly tripping and falling flat on his ass but Eren had managed to stop his fall before, finally, in a fit of frustration, the brunet scooped the raven up and pushed his way through the door of Levi's bedroom.

Eren set him down gently in the center of the mattress and made quick work of unbuttoning the white dress shirt Levi had worn to go and pick him up at the airport that evening. When Levi's chest was fully exposed, the older man shuddered when he felt the cool air of his bedroom touch his skin but soon he felt Eren's hot mouth leaving a trail of kisses down his torso. He untucked the tails of Levi's dress shirt and began unfastening the belt around his waist. 

Meanwhile, Levi got to work stripping Eren of the white, long-sleeved henley he was wearing. They both worked at an eager pace, needing to feel the other's skin and shifting muscles under their own fingertips. Soon, belts and pants were thrown carelessly across the floor along with Eren's shirt but Levi kept his on for the most part. The white button down shirt hung off his shoulders and exposed just enough of the tattoos that were inked there. 

Levi couldn't get enough of Eren in all his naked glory. The way his tanned skin glittered under the moonlight from the light sweat he was working up, to the way his messy fringe fell in his eyes. Eren stroked Levi through his boxer-briefs and the older man sucked in a sharp breath when he felt the soft material brush over the sensitive tip of his cock. It was all Levi could do in order to stop himself from moaning out when they'd barely even started but every part of his body that was touched by Eren felt hyper-sensitive and it was just the tiniest bit overwhelming when one of his nipples was taken into the brunet's talented mouth and teased relentlessly. 

"You're gorgeous." Eren murmured against his heated skin, flicking Levi's abused nipple with the tip of his tongue before he was moving downward. 

Levi shivered when he felt Eren's warm lips trail kisses down his abs toward the hem of his underwear. Meanwhile, his right hand massaged and stroked his growing erection through the soft material of his boxer-briefs, resulting in the wet spot that had already formed at the front of them. 

"E-Eren... I can't--" Levi had to pause to swallow and force his eyes open. (When had he closed them in the first place?) "I won't last if you keep going like this..." he warned, cheeks pink with embarrassment for having to admit to such a thing. 

"Alright," the brunet said in a tender tone, eyes catching with Levi's as he moved to kiss the inside of the raven's thigh. "I'll just start prepping you instead. Where's the lube and condoms?" 

"Bedside table." the older man panted, one arm slung over his eyes to avoid having to watch Eren staring back up at him from between his spread thighs. The sight was almost too much to bear right now. 

It didn't help that his heart hammered in his chest with how nervous he was about this. It had been far too long since he slept with someone and if he were being honest with himself, he couldn't quite remember the last time he got off with another person and not just a dildo Hanji had given him as a gag gift for his birthday.

Lifting his arm up just an inch, Levi watched as Eren stood up from the bed and reached over toward the bedside table to rummage around the inside drawer for the things he needed. When Eren pulled out the familiar red and black box, the older man heard him give a snort of laughter. 

"You kept the condoms?" Eren asked, looking back at Levi with a slightly crooked grin as he opened the box and pulled out what he needed.

"Not exactly by choice." Levi huffed. "But now I'm kind of glad I didn't throw them out."

"So am I." Eren purred as he moved back onto the bed to loom over his lover. He craned his neck down and captured Levi's lips in a seering kiss that made the raven's heart swell. 

To Levi's surprise, Eren had made quick work of uncapping the bottle of lube and spreading it across his fingers. It just went to show how distracting Eren's mouth was when Levi felt the tip of a finger probing him before slowly and carefully dipping in. 

Levi took the first digit like a champ, hardly flinching when Eren wriggled it around, testing the waters to see how much time Levi needed before he could graduate to two fingers and soon three. The stretch was uncomfortable, there was no denying that, and Levi did his part by remembering to relax and breath. While it had definitely been awhile since he'd done this with a partner, it wasn't exactly like he forgot how to do things. It helped that Eren was patient with him, which was a slight surprise. Eren Jaeger and patience went together like oil and water.

But it was arousing to see the way teal eyes watched him closely, watched his expression, followed the curve of his lips whenever those fingers would brush against his sweet spot and Levi would arch and suck in a sharp breath. All the while, the brunet traced every inch of skin he could reach with his mouth, softly caressing the pink petals of the magnolias on Levi's shoulders, to lightly tickling the wings of the tree swallow on Levi's ribs. 

"Gorgeous." He heard Eren whisper when a moan slipped past Levi's lips and echoed in the emptiness of the bedroom.

The older man didn't know how to respond to his words. Levi wasn't used to being showered with praises or compliments. It just wasn't something he ever expected from anyone. When he was with Mike, it was different. They fucked to satisfy a carnal desire within them but Levi couldn't honestly say what he felt for Mike was Love. At least, not to this extent. With Eren, it was so painfully obvious. Levi didn't think he could possibly hide the feelings he held for Eren, and from what he could see, the feeling was mutual. Eren simply oozed sincere honesty and he was much to open with his expressions, so when he stared at Levi from across the room and a smile immediately stretched his lips, sea foam eyes softening, there was no question as to what he felt for Levi and that's what he loved about him. 

"Eren..." 

"Yes, love? What is it?" 

"I'm ready." 

With those two words, the brunet lifted his gaze to meet Levi's earnest one, gray clashing against bright turquoise and Levi could see the slight worry in Eren's eyes, the poorly masked concern. _'Are you sure?'_ was the unasked question in his gaze and Levi could only respond by sitting up and reaching out for Eren so that he could kiss those worries away. 

"I'm ready..." Levi repeated in a softer tone against Eren's lips.

His younger lover's eyes fluttered open to gaze back at him and finally Levi could see the concern replaced with understanding as Eren moved to grab the condom and the abandoned bottle of lube. Levi helped him, or distracted him, depends on how you looked at it. He teased the brunet by stroking him in slow, languid motions while Eren rolled the condom over his weeping cock and his arousal was evident by the little groan he made when Levi did so. 

Eren applied a generous amount of lube to his cock before he gripped Levi's hips firmly and leaned forward to kiss him again. It was meant to be a way to distract the older man from the pain of being penetrated but it was only half-successful. There was that familiar burn under the strain of being stretched to such a point but it was a distant sensation his mind registered while his mouth was currently being invaded by Eren's eager tongue. 

He remembered to breath, in and out, Eren took his time in entering him but Levi could tell it was a struggle for him to hold back too. Still, he appreciated Eren's effort in considering him before his own pleasure. 

"Lay back." Eren instructed him in a gentle tone and Levi obeyed. "If it's too much, just tell me and we'll stop."

"No..." Levi struggled to say as he wiggled his hips and reminded himself to relax so that he could adjust more quickly. "No, I'm fine. Keep going..." 

It felt like an eternity but when Eren finally moved, he was quick to find a comfortable and steady pace for the both of them. Something Levi was immensely grateful for as it made the adjusting process all the easier and soon the discomfort of being stretched was almost completely gone, phased out by the intense pleasure as Eren pushed his legs further up so that his angle changed and he was hitting Levi's prostate almost constantly. 

Having forgotten his earlier reservations over being overly noisy, Levi had his head thrown back in ecstasy as he gripped the sheets tightly and moaned each time Eren grazed his sweet spot. Meanwhile, Eren continued to sing his praises.

"Perfect." He said at one point, breathlessly. "You're so perfect."

Levi had made the mistake of looking up at him when he said this, and the absolute love in Eren's eyes as he said those words, the way he stared back at him with unwavering determination and genuine sincerity, well, before it would have terrified Levi to see that but now it only served to break down the last of his walls that had been fiercely holding up all this time. That one look tore him down and then built him back up again, as Eren so often tended to do. 

It shattered his very heart and soul into a million tiny pieces and then put them all right back together again, even better and stronger than before and for once, there wasn't any trace of fear or doubt in his his heart or his mind. He believed Eren's words, wholeheartedly and while the words were stuck in his throat, Levi knew it was absolutely unnecessary for him to say them because Eren already knew. 

And they came apart together by the end of everything. Sweaty, exhausted and sated but still unwilling to leave the other for a second. When all was said and done, they lay next to each other and simply basked in the afterglow of post-coital bliss. Still, Eren was unable to keep his hands off of Levi, though his touches were much more innocent now, simply tracing the dips and curves of his body. It was like Eren needed to touch him, _feel_ him physically in order to know that this was all real and, well, Levi could honestly understand that. 

"Aren't you tired?" Levi had mumbled at some point, when Eren started trailing light kisses down his spine.

"Not really." the brunet murmured back, lips still pressed to Levi's skin. "Why? Are you?" 

"A little sore." The raven huffed. "But, stupidly enough, I'm wide awake."

He heard Eren chuckle from behind him and it prompted a smile from him as well. "Well, what do you want to do until we fall asleep then?"

"Honestly?" Levi asked.

"Honestly." Eren nodded. 

Well... before they both got carried away, Levi had actually planned on showing Eren something when they got back to his apartment. Of course, he never got the chance but he wasn't exactly complaining. 

"Actually, I had a surprise for you." 

"A surprise?" asked Eren. Genuine curiosity in his tone. 

"Mm." Levi sat up and Eren did the same. "Do me a favor and open that closet door over there." 

"Okayyy...?" Eyeing Levi a little suspiciously, Eren moved from the bed and walked across the room to the shut closet doors directly across from the bathroom. 

He opened the right door and there sat a brand new acoustic guitar, sleek and black in color. 

"Uh, you got me a guitar?" he questioned, shooting Levi a dubious look from over his shoulder.

"No, dumbass." Levi snorted. "Grab it and bring it here."

Shrugging his shoulders, Eren did as he was told and grabbed the neck of the guitar, picking it up and carrying it back to Levi who was still sitting in a pool of rumpled sheets in the center of the bed. It was almost funny, the way Eren held the guitar like it was made of glass, but Levi could understand how awkward it was for someone who wasn't used to carrying one. He handed Levi the guitar and the raven took it with ease, situating it on his lap and fiddling with all the tuning heads while Eren crawled back into bed. 

"I haven't had the chance to tune it yet but that's easy enough." 

"When did you get this?" Eren asked, eyeing the guitar with open approval. 

"A couple of days ago. Hanji and I saw it in a shop window and she pestered me into buying it." 

Eren snorted at that, "So, you're telling me you didn't even want this baby? Not even a little bit?" 

"... Well," Levi grumbled. "Maybe I wanted it a little."

"So? Are you going to serenade me?" 

"Don't tempt me." Levi smirked. 

"But I am!" Eren laughed. "Come on, Levi. Sing me something." 

Pretending to let out a very put upon sigh, the raven stopped tuning the guitar and rolled his eyes. 

"What are you going to give me in return for my free performance?" he asked. 

"What do you want?" the brunet asked without missing a beat. 

"..." Levi took a moment to think about that. "Alright. You have to promise to marry me." 

"Seriously?" Eren scoffed. "Is that all? Alright. Fine."

"Gee, don't sound so surprised, Jaeger."

Levi chuckled when Eren playfully pushed him and then he was strumming the chords experimentally to see if he tuned them correctly. The fingers on his left hand danced across the frets on the neck, just itching to play something but he couldn't decide on what.

"Any requests?" he asked, meeting his lover's eyes. 

"Just sing me something from your heart." Eren said as he got comfortable on the bed, arranging several pillows so that he was stretched vertically across. 

"Tch, that doesn't narrow it down." Levi grumbled quietly but began strumming random melodies anyway. 

Eren watched and waited patiently to see what Levi would sing for him and luckily it didn't take the raven long to finally settle on something. He cleared his throat a couple of times and then started up a slow and easy melody on his guitar, right hand strumming chords effortlessly.

'♪ I believe in nothing, not the end and not the start  
I believe in nothing, not the earth and not the stars  
I believe in nothing, not the day and not the dark  
I believe in nothing but the beating of our hearts...  
I believe in nothing, one hundred suns until we part  
I believe in nothing, not in sin and not in God  
I believe in nothing, not in peace and not in war  
I believe in nothing but the truth in who we are... ♪

He hadn't registered when Eren had sat up from his spot on the bed to move and kiss him, not until he felt warm lips pressed against his. It was all too easy to forget about the guitar in his lap and to get lost in the sheets with his lover. That was the thing about Eren, he helped Levi forget all the ugly things, all the nasty thoughts that used to plague his mind constantly. He quieted the harsh noise and dispelled all the bad thoughts he had about himself and made him feel like he was worth something and that wasn't something just anybody could do. Several people had tried over the years but Eren succeeded.

"I love you..." Levi said against plush lips. He felt Eren's mouth stretch into a smile. 

"I love you, too."

And just like that, with four little words murmured in the darkness, years of pain and loneliness were replaced with so much love and affection that he almost didn't know what to do with it. Eren had managed to vanquish all the dark memories and conquer his heart that had long ago been closed off and hidden from the world. It was safe to say that Levi belonged to Eren, in heart, body and mind and he was fine with that. If it was Eren... it was fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used in this chapter is **100 Suns** by **Thirty Seconds To Mars**.
> 
> Yeah, I'm sorry this took forever for me to finish. I had serious writer's block for this chapter and then real life hates me, so, there's that. 
> 
> Anyway, good stuff coming soon! Look forward to it!


	24. Choke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
>  _'♪ Breathe, keep breathing_   
>  _Don't lose your nerve_   
>  _Breathe, keep breathing_   
>  _I can't do this alone ♪'_
> 
> **Exit Music (For A Film)** \- **Radiohead**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger Warning!!** Mentions of intense anxiety and panic attacks in this chapter guys, and just a lot of owwies in general.

The first thing Levi woke to the following morning was the warm sensation of Eren's lips tickling his skin as the brunet stirred from behind him while trailing kisses up and down his shoulders. The raven slipped in and out of consciousness feeling the greatest urge to just keep on sleeping, which was an entirely new experience for him. He tried several times to open his eyes but failed each and every time. 

Eren's hands began to dance across his sides, lightly tracing patterns into his skin before one hand settled on a bare hip bone, Levi groaned softly into his pillow but made no moves to get up. He heard his lover chuckle softly at his surprising reluctance to wake up and then Eren was stirring a little more.

"Cut it out," Levi growled, eyes still closed. "Go back to sleep." 

"It's almost one in the afternoon." Eren laughed. "As much as I'd love to stay in bed with you, I'm starving and I'd very much like a shower." 

Levi whined into the pillow once more, burying his face deeper into it. "What do I care if we slept in this late? It's not like we have to go to work for another few days."

"Wow, I didn't know you could be such a brat." the brunet snorted. Levi felt the other side of the bed dip and then the sound of Eren shuffling around the room. 

Levi refused to open his eyes. He was determined to be a lazy shit for once in his life because for a change, he didn't feel the need to wake up at an ungodly hour and start his day. Not when he had every reason to stay in bed, one very big reason being the gorgeous young man that had previously been spooning him naked.

"Give me one good reason why I should get out of bed." Levi huffed as he flopped onto his back, hands coming up to scrub at his face. 

He felt his side of the bed dip and then felt the heat of Eren's body as the brunet loomed over him, pressed his lips against Levi's and smirked. "Well, I was kind of hoping you'd be up for a quickie in the shower, but..." 

Levi's eyes opened at those words, spoken in a low and suggestive tone. He noticed the self-satisfied smirk on Eren's face and he wished he could be just the tiniest bit annoyed at him for using such a dirty tactic but, well, he couldn't quite find it in him to be irritated when Eren's bright eyes promised plenty of sinful things. 

"... Alright. You've convinced me." the raven said as he finally sat up from the bed.

Eren laughed brightly as he stood and walked toward the bathroom with Levi's eyes following his naked form hungrily. If this was going to be a normal thing, the raven supposed he could get used to this kind of wake up call. Also, think of all the water they'd save if they showered together every morning. Right... Levi only had the environment's best interests in mind, after all.

\- X -

After a very late breakfast, Eren had suggested they go by his place to pick up some clothes and other things considering he only had the clothes he took with him on his trip to California and he very much needed a new, clean set of clothes to wear. 

"It shouldn't take me long to get my things." Eren said once he had his apartment door unlocked and invited Levi in. 

"I forgot how tiny your place was." the older male commented once he was inside and all the lights were on. 

The apartment was simplistic in every sense of the word. Bare white walls, an open kitchen, front room layout with two white doors directly adjacent each other. The only saving grace was the rather large furniture that helped fill the place out and not make it seem so... empty. The ceilings were surprisingly high and he noticed with some annoyance that all the cabinets in Eren's kitchen were definitely too high for him to reach, even if he tip-toed. 

"Make yourself comfortable," the brunet said with a playful grin as he disappeared through the door on the left side of the room, which Levi learned was the bathroom. 

He wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do while waiting for Eren to finish getting his things, so Levi decided he'd give himself a little tour of Eren's humble apartment. He'd only ever been there once before, when they were trying to figure out what the brunet should bring back to Levi's apartment for the dinner party with Nile. Snorting quietly to himself, Levi shook his head and smiled as he began looking around at all the pictures put up in the living room. There were two framed pictures on a small coffee table showing off a slightly younger looking Eren with his arm wrapped around Mikasa's shoulders while they both beamed up at the camera. The other picture was of Eren kissing a laughing Carla's cheek.

It reminded him of the handful of photos they'd printed out and framed from their little one-day adventure all over NYC. There was just something satisfying in knowing that he was part of this, now. That he was a piece of Eren's life to be remembered and immortalized in photos for years to come.

"Levi?" Eren's curious voice called from the bathroom, snapping the man out of his thoughts. 

"What?" he called back. 

"Could you do me a favor and go into my bedroom? I need the spare adapter for my phone and the extension cable." 

"I got it."

Exhaling softly through his nose, Levi started for the opposite door on the right side of the apartment and let himself in, half-expecting to find Eren's room in complete disarray. To his surprise, it was cleaner than he thought it would be. There was the occasional shoe haphazardly kicked off here and there and a t-shirt tossed carelessly over the foot of the bed, but otherwise, Eren's room was spotless. 

The raven began his search for the adapter and the extension cable Eren needed but he ran into a little trouble when he realized he didn't even know where to start looking. 

"How am I supposed to find anything in this pigsty?" Levi called over his shoulder jokingly as he began poking around Eren's night stand by the bed. 

He heard the brunet snort from the bathroom before he finally answered, "It should be on the night stand and if not then it might be in my rucksack on the closet floor." 

"It's not on the nightstand." Levi huffed out. 

His eyes then scanned the room for the rucksack, which he found in the exact place Eren had mentioned, on the floor inside the closet but as Levi moved to pick it up, the strap got caught on the underside of the closet door. He tugged on it gently to see if he could force it out but it stayed stubbornly stuck under the door and Levi sighed. He hoped he wouldn't rip it, but he knew the only way to get it free was by using excessive force. He gripped the strap firmly and with one good, powerful tug the rucksack came unstuck and the closet door swung open, but this also caused a box to come tumbling down from the top self and all it's contents scattered across the floor at Levi's feet. 

"Shit!" he cursed quietly as he tossed the rucksack on top of Eren's bed so that he could start picking up everything that fell. 

He dropped down to his knees and started gathering all the scattered contents of the box but he had to stop everything he was doing when he took a moment to actually _see_ what it was he was picking up. At first, all he recognized was that most of the stuff on the floor was pictures of varying kinds but most of them were polaroids and they were all mostly faced down. He didn't think much of it until he flipped one over and saw a much younger version of himself looking back at him. 

He was confused for a brief moment, wondering if it was just his mind playing tricks on him and he was imagining things. Had he finally lost it? He began flipping more pictures over to make sure-- to confirm it for himself that he was losing his mind because it was impossible for those pictures to be here of all places but as he flipped photo after photo over, the confusion he felt moments earlier began to slowly fade and soon panic began to settle in. 

His eyes soon found the video tapes that had also fallen out of the box and he read Hanji's messy, chicken scratch on the white sticky labels on each tape. Distantly, Levi could hear Eren asking him something from the other room but it was all white noise to him as he did his best to keep it together. _'There was no way it could be the same box.'_ he told himself repeatedly like a chant in his head but then he saw the familiar handwriting on the side of the beat up box, handwriting that was unmistakably his own from a time when he was younger and terrified of everything. 

**BAD MEMORIES**   
**DO NOT OPEN**

He tried to convince himself it wasn't _that_ box-- wasn't the same one he'd thrown out years ago because why would it be here in Eren's apartment of all places? Foolishly, he tried to comfort himself by reasoning that everyone had a box like this, a box they stored all their worst memories in and buried away somewhere so that they'd never have to look at what was inside of it ever again, but, the more he fed himself this foolish lie, the worse he felt and he could feel the firm grip on his emotions beginning to slip as his hands began to tremble. 

All the evidence was literally laid out before him and he was finding more and more shit that only confirmed his worst fear-- the one he kept stubbornly trying to squash down as he poured over more and more images of days long since forgotten and for good reason. His heart stopped when he came across a polaroid of himself wearing one of Mike's sweatshirts, his pale neck on full display with obvious hickeys and Mike's arm wrapped around his waist possessively.

He tried to swallow at this point but his mouth was dry and he could feel a painful lump beginning to form in his throat. Shaking hands reached out and grabbed for the cassette tapes scattered along with the rest of the pictures and a horrified feeling caused his stomach to churn as he remembered exactly what was on those tapes. 

Old songs sung during his hardest times, songs that had cut him deeply at the time and helped numb the constant stabs of anxiety and fear; anxiety and fear that he was feeling now and he had to clench his teeth and tighten his jaw in order to force himself to swallow past that fucking lump that refused to go down. He just couldn't understand what was happening, why Eren had this fucking box in his closet. It just didn't make sense! 

"Levi...?" Came Eren's voice, now clear as a bell to him. "I heard something fall. Are you alright?" 

_'No.'_ he wanted to say, he most definitely was not fucking alright. 

Levi felt so many different emotions filling him all at once that he didn't even know what the fuck to do. He was angry and he wanted to scream but at the same time he was stunned speechless and couldn't find words. His mind was racing a million miles a second and it was just so overwhelming, he could feel himself on the verge of another attack but he was doing his best to force it away because he needed to keep his shit together long enough to get answers. He fucking needed to know why Eren had this goddamn cursed box of his most painful memories.

"Levi?" came Eren's worried voice from the doorway. Levi didn't need to turn to see the expression on his face, he was pretty positive he already knew. 

"Why..." Levi tried asking but his voice trembled with a mixture of anger and betrayal. "... Why do you have these?" he finally managed to force out, but he felt strangely disconnected to his body for some reason. 

The silence that followed only served to worsen his already spiking anxiety and he felt like his throat was starting to close on him making it harder and harder for him to breathe in. He took slow, shallow breaths while gripping a photo that was in his hand until it crumpled but he didn't fucking care. He just wanted Eren to say something--anything! He needed some kind of explanation because the longer this silence stretched, the more Levi could feel his heart tremble and shatter with each passing second. 

Standing from his spot kneeling on the floor, Levi slowly turned to face the brunet who had entered the room but kept a good distance between them. The raven could see the apprehension written clearly on the younger man's face as he stared at Levi, his mouth opening and closing several times but no words came out. Eren took a step forward but then seemed to think better of it as he took a step back, his hands flexing at his sides in a show of anxious uncertainty. 

Levi had to force himself to swallow past that lump once more, hands balled into tight fists at his sides and his body trembling slightly. 

"Why... do you have this box, Eren?" he ground out, hating the way his voice shook and threatened to break. 

"I'm sorry, Levi." Came the soft reply of Eren's voice, so tiny and full of remorse. He had broken eye contact with Levi as he said this, instead choosing to stare down at the floor in shame.

Was that it? That was all Eren could offer him? One quiet apology uttered down at his feet because he didn't have the courage to look him in the eye and give him an honest answer?

Levi felt something inside himself crack, threatening to break and suddenly all he wanted to do was leave and get the hell away from Eren. He felt a weight come crashing down on him and it caused his vision to swim, his breathing once again picked up and his heart hammered in his chest violently. He had to leave. He had to get out...

Abruptly, he rushed past the brunet and made an escape for the front door. It took Eren a second to register that Levi was making a run for it but he was quick to turn and take chase. The raven was faster, having made it halfway to the door by the time Eren snapped but, by some fucking miracle, Eren managed to catch the raven just as he made it to the foyer. With one hand, he slammed the door shut and with his other hand, he grabbed Levi and pulled him back so that he was pressed flush up against his chest. Levi was still trembling, though whether it was from anger or fear, Eren couldn't be sure. He only knew that if he let Levi go through that door, he would probably never see him again and that very thought scared him more than anything. 

So, he gripped the smaller man's body to his tightly and nuzzled into his neck while desperately spewing apologies as he did so. "I'm so sorry, Levi. I'm so fucking sorry. I'm sorry."

His apologies fell on deaf ears as the man began to struggle against him but Eren held firm, tightening his hold around Levi's body, refusing to let him go. Levi on the other hand was beginning to panic again. He needed to get the fuck out of here but Eren was literally smothering him and he couldn't breath and he felt like everything was closing in around him. He needed to leave... he needed to... to... 

"Don't..." was all he could manage to say through his labored breaths. His voice trembled as he repeated that one word once more but he didn't care if Eren heard how weak he sounded. He was just desperate to get the hell away. "Don't."

Levi adamantly pushed against Eren's chest with all his strength, using some of his anger to fuel him into finally breaking free from the brunet's hold. When he was rid of the strong arms locked around him tightly, Levi didn't waste any time. He turned on his heel and yanked the door open with such force that it bounced off the wall but he didn't care. He could feel that painful lump in his throat starting to choke him but he forced himself to keep it the fuck together until he got out. He couldn't lose himself here... not now... not yet. 

He didn't look back, not once. Not when Eren screamed after him, chased him halfway down the staircase and out toward the car that was waiting for him as he exited the building. Levi jumped into the backseat and locked all the doors behind him as he kept his gaze on nothing but the road in front of him. 

"Is everything alright, sir?" the driver asked, shooting Levi a slightly concerned look when he noticed Eren chasing after him. 

"Just fucking drive!" the raven snapped, a frustrated grunt leaving his lips as he sunk down into the leather seats and carded a hand through his fringe, tugging on it roughly as the car finally pulled away from the curb and gained some distance from a screaming Eren. 

In the safety of the car, Levi allowed himself a brief moment to breakdown, a shuttered breath leaving his lips as he tried to suck in air but he somehow managed to avoid that sigh from turning into a sob. The tears began to well up in his eyes but in a desperate attempt to stop them he tilted his head back and tried to take a calming breath in but even that was painful. He blinked away the tears, forced himself to swallow past that lump no matter how much it hurt and composed himself. He absolutely refused to lose his shit in the car with his driver watching him with mild concern through the rearview mirror. 

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go, sir? I'm coming up on a turn." the chauffeur asked hesitantly. 

Fuck. Levi hadn't thought that far. He had only planned on getting the fuck out of Eren's apartment and as far away from the kid as possible, but now that he had done that, he wasn't sure what the fuck he was supposed to do now. He wanted to go back to the privacy of his apartment but he knew that if he went there now, Eren would just find him and start trying to knock down his door and Levi didn't think he could handle that right now. There was only one of two places he could go where he felt safe, and he hoped he wasn't making a mistake by going to the first one. 

"143 Trost Ave."

\- X -

Levi approached the familiar white wooden door with it's cheerful 'Welcome' mat before it. Just seeing that door from his walk up the icy driveway was enough to help calm his racing heart and ease the tightness in his chest. He hoped to a god he didn't quite believe in that someone was home, because he really needed to see a familiar face. His teeth slightly chattered from the biting chill of mid-winter air as he gave two firm knocks on the door and then waited in silence. 

It took a few seconds but Levi heard a shouted 'Coming!' from the kitchen and then he spotted movement through a window. He was relieved to know that someone was home and he waited with bated breath for the door to be opened. When it was, Hanji's bright expression greeted him and he felt a little bit of that crushing weight from earlier lift off of him making it a little easier to breathe now. 

"Heya, Munchkin! This is a pleasant surprise." she laughed. 

Levi didn't wait to be invited in, not that he ever did, and he stepped over the threshold crowding Hanji's personal space until there was hardly any space between them. He didn't speak, didn't think he needed to because the bright smile on Hanji's face had already slowly faded away when he stepped into the foyer and leaned into her. He rested his forehead against her shoulder and felt that lump in his throat tighten as the tears welled up in his eyes once more. 

"Levi...?" Came Hanji's soft, concerned voice as she wrapped her arms loosely around his trembling form. 

Wordlessly, Levi shook his head from side to side, not even sure what he meant by that gesture himself but Hanji seemed to understand what he meant clearly enough. Somehow, she'd always been able to read him like a goddamn open book no matter how stubborn he was. 

"Okay," she said quietly. "Okay. Let's get you inside and out of the cold for now, huh? You're shaking like a leaf." 

Levi let her herd him into the house like sheep and didn't protest when she removed his coat from his shoulders and then led him into the living room. She settled him on the couch, taking a seat directly next to him while rubbing her hands up and down his back and his shoulders and Levi found the actions comforting, even just a little. But, in typical Hanji manner, she never pressed him for information and didn't make him feel uncomfortable when a few stray tears fell from his eyes. 

It took some time and two cups of tea before he felt calm enough to finally tell Hanji everything that had happened-- about Eren and the box and how he had ran straight here afterwards. He had emptied his second cup of tea by the time he finished spilling his guts and the entire time he had done so, he never once looked up to see her reaction. Naturally, he assumed she'd be upset at Eren, it was only a given, but when the raven finally looked up and met her wide, brown eyes, all he saw was guilt and remorse. 

Frowning, brows pinching together in confusion, Levi couldn't understand why she had that look of all looks on her face. Why didn't she seem more upset about this? Her expression was almost exactly like the one Eren had given him back at... the apartment... 

Slowly, when Hanji shifted uncomfortably in her spot, Levi put the pieces together and felt his anger spike. Now, it all made sense. He was such an idiot. Of course Hanji was involved in this. How else would Eren have gotten his hands on that box otherwise? Feeling his stomach drop and a chill settle over his body, Levi couldn't do anything but clench his fists and wait for Hanji to explain herself, if she even could. It was like he was standing in the middle of Eren's bedroom all over again, desperately waiting for an answer hoping none of this meant what he thought it meant. 

But, like Eren, Hanji seemed at a loss for words and that silence is what killed Levi the most. It had hurt coming from Eren, hurt like hell because that was someone he had recently opened up to and come to love but the betrayal was nothing compared to this. He must have slipped up and let the anger and hurt show on his face because soon Hanji was scrambling for words and grabbing for his hands in some desperate attempt to keep him from running. 

"Oh, god, Levi, I'm so sorry! I never meant for this to happen, believe me!" she cried, voice uneven and breaking as she gripped his hands in hers tightly. "I know I had no right to give that box to him but I just... I needed him to understand. I'm sorry!" 

Levi had had enough. He was tired of hearing all these apologies as if that were some kind of solution to all his problems. It wasn't. All it did was make him feel hallow and disconnected from himself as he stood up from his spot on the couch suddenly yanking his hands from hers and made for the foyer. 

"Levi! I'm sorry!" Hanji called after him. He could hear her voice crack and a sob slip past but he didn't care. 

It figured that just as he was leaving, Erwin was just arriving and the blond smiled upon seeing him walking toward him but it was like Levi had tunnel vision and the only thing he could see was the door. By some miracle, he managed to remember his coat hanging on the coat rack behind the door and Erwin finally addressed him when he noticed something was off. 

"Levi? What's wrong?" the blond asked, heavy suspicion in his tone with some concern mixed in. 

Silently, Levi threw his coat on and yanked the door open, stepping out into the cold, bitter chill of winter air that smacked him in the face but he didn't fucking care. He didn't care about anything anymore, he just wanted to get the hell away from everyone. As he trudged through the snow that had slightly piled up over the course of the day, he had felt a brief moment of hysteria wash over him as he slowed to a stop and heard himself laugh bitterly. He didn't understand why he was laughing when his entire world was shattering around him. 

As he thought about it, it was all a bit predictable. He didn't know why he thought something like this wouldn't happen to him eventually. He always did have the shittiest luck when it came to keeping people in his life. In the end, everyone left, whether of their own volition or by circumstance or because Levi pushed them away but he didn't know why he thought this could ever work. Hanji and Erwin had become like family to him, of that he had no doubt but that was what was killing him right now. 

Maybe it was his own fault that all of this was happening, anyway. This is what he got for trusting people, for thinking he could have a normal life like anyone else but that was just it. He wasn't like everyone else. He had been alone from the moment he was born, had grown up in a big empty house alone, wandered the streets of his hometown alone, lived in a big empty apartment, alone. Why did he think it could be any different? 

His feet carried him to a nearby convenience store where he bought a bottle of scotch and a few other things and then he was doing the unthinkable; hailing a cab and taking it all the way back to his office because he couldn't handle going back home right now. Not with this wound still fresh and he just knew that if he went home, he'd have to face the remnants of his night with Eren and all that that meant. He couldn't deal with that, if he did, he knew he'd lose himself completely and that thought terrified him. 

So, he went to the only other place he knew he would be safe, or rather, the only place, now. Hanji had fucked him over and Eren just salted an old, festering wound that never quite healed in all these years. He hoped that hiding out in his office would solve his problem, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he could only camp out at the office for a couple days at the most before he had to go home and take a proper shower but for now, he fully intended to lock himself inside the Smith & Dok Advertising building and drink himself stupid because he needed to feel the familiar numbness alcohol brought with it and he thoroughly looked forward to possibly blacking out. 

He didn't spend his whole time at the office drinking, unfortunately. Once there, Levi had managed to get in a few swigs of scotch before his inner workaholic awakened and he was back to pouring over mock ups and any other unfinished projects he left over the holiday. He did anything in his power to distract himself and avoid thinking about Eren or Hanji but occasionally he slipped up and when he felt that familiar lump forming in his throat making it hard to swallow and those hot tears lining his eyes, he simply downed that bottle of scotch, forced the burning alcohol past that lump and stubbornly wiped away those tears because he refused to breakdown. 

By the second day of camping out at the office, Levi was exhausted and constantly buzzed but he had finished the scotch and wasn't exactly determined to go out and get another one from the store down the block. Instead, he squeezed in whatever sleep he could while sitting at his desk, which wasn't exactly foreign to him but it had been awhile since he last slept in a chair. Too many cozy nights spent spooning with Eren in bed, he supposed and that thought made his heart ache painfully. 

"I thought I'd find you here." a deep voice boomed from the doorway. Or, well, it sounded booming to Levi but maybe that was because he was still a little drunk and a lot hungover. The owner of the voice sighed heavily before continuing with, "At least you're face down on your desk and not face down in a ditch somewhere." 

Slowly, Levi lifted his head up from where he had it resting on top of his desk, cheek pressed against the cool glass. It took him a bit to focus his blurred vision but it wasn't hard to make out Erwin's hulking figure in the doorway looking at him with varying degrees of disapproval and concern. Immediately, Levi frowned and allowed his head to drop back onto the desk top. Erwin was the third to the last person he wanted to see right now. 

"Fuck off." the raven croaked, voice rough from misuse. 

"I will not." he heard the blond sigh, then Levi heard him shuffle into the room. "It reeks of booze in here and so do you." 

"Fuck. Off." Levi repeated himself, more pointedly this time in case the first time wasn't clear enough. 

"I'll fuck off once I know you're alright and not holed up in here drinking yourself to death." Erwin sassed back. "Hanji has been worried sick about you and she hasn't stopped crying since day before yesterday." 

Levi shifted in his seat so that he was now resting his opposite cheek on the desk, this way he could settle Erwin with what he hoped was a glare but he wasn't even sure anymore. 

"Good," the raven slurred. He hoped he made her hurt the way she hurt him, but a little voice in the back of his head told him that was impossible. "She fuckin' deserves it." 

"Levi..." Erwin said in warning. "I know what she did was wrong but that's no reason to wish this kind of stress on her. She's pregnant, remember?" 

"I 'on't fuckin' care!" the raven sniffled. In any other situation, Levi would have been embarrassed to be seen in such a state but Erwin had seen him like this multiple times over in the past sixteen years, so there was really no reason for him to feel any shame. "And don't act like you didn't have a part in this, you bushy-browed bastard." 

Blue eyes stared down at him unmoved by the insult, "I honestly didn't. Had I known, don't you think I would have advised my wife against it? You should know me better than that, Levi." 

"Tch!" was the only response the raven could make before he wiped away a tear that had rolled down his cheek. "I thought I did..." he mumbled. 

A hush fell over the office while Erwin stood by Levi's desk and waited for the man to finally sit up straight, which he did, after a few more minutes of attempting to glare Erwin to death and failing. His head spun and his vision swam when he finally did sit up and then that's when the headache and the nausea set in. Still, he'd prefer being hungover and sick than sober and suffering attack after attack. His heart, for the most part, was calm and he felt no signs of the biting, gnawing anxiety in his chest, which was a nice change of pace but he knew he couldn't keep this up. Eventually, he'd sober up and he'd be back to drowning under those merciless waves of fear and uncertainty. 

"You should go home and get cleaned up." Erwin suggested as he moved to open the blinds to the windows. "You look terrible." 

"I can't fuckin' go home..." Levi growled when sunlight blinded him. "That little shit is probably camped out on my doorstep." 

"He's not," Erwin huffed. "I stopped by your place before coming here. He left a note for you on the door but that's it." 

"Fuck..." 

"Where's your phone?" 

"... I took the battery out and trashed it."

"Wonderful." Erwin said sarcastically. "Well, it can't be helped. Go home. Take a shower, shave and brush your teeth and I'll drop by soon." 

Levi wanted to protest to that, tell Erwin he could take his fucking concern about his well being and shove it up his ass but he didn't. He may have lost his trust in Hanji and Eren but something told him that Erwin wasn't lying when he said he had no idea about the box. Honestly, Levi almost felt stupid for thinking Erwin was involved because thinking back on it, it's just not like the blond idiot. He was a cunningly smart business man and deceptive when he needed to be but a liar he was not. 

Feeling a little more sober, compared to before, Levi inhaled sharply through his nose and sighed loudly. "Don't bother." he said. "I'll be fine. I just... need time to myself for awhile." 

Erwin gave him a dubious stare, "... You sure?" 

"Yes, I'm sure." Levi scowled. "If you were in my position, you'd want everyone to fuck off too, Smith." 

"I... guess you have a point." the blond sighed. "Alright, well, try not to drink too much, Levi. I'm sure we can sort this mess out once you're ready to--" 

"No." Levi interjected sharply as he stood up from his chair and grabbed the edge of his desk for balance when he almost fell back. "No. There's nothing to sort out. What's done is done."

"But, Levi--"

"I said no, Erwin. I can't forgive her. Not after She and Eren went behind my back and made me feel like the world's biggest idiot."

"Levi, it's not like that." Erwin frowned. 

"No? Then what was it, exactly?" Levi asked in a bitter voice. When Erwin didn't answer him, Levi continued as he rounded his desk and shrugged on his coat. "Face it. Hanji fucked up by keeping that box without telling me and then giving it to Eren so that he could turn me into his little charity project."

"That's not why she did it, Levi." Erwin snapped. "It's not fair that you're holding this against her when she's already apologized to you. She knows it was wrong for her to do that but she only did it in your best interest."

The sound of glass shattering caused a thick silence to fall over the room and it took Erwin a second to realize that Levi had smashed the bottle of scotch against a wall and was now staring up at him with absolute fury on his face. 

"Shut the fuck up." Levi bit out. "Don't fuckin' stand there and tell me that I'm the one being cruel and unfair when she's the one who took my trust, threw it on the ground and spat on it!" 

Erwin seemed shocked for a brief moment before he collected himself again. "I'm sorry, Levi. I didn't mean to sound like I was defending what she did. I know you're angry, who wouldn't be--" 

"Stop apologizing." Levi sneered. "I'm so fuckin' sick and tired of people apologizing to me. If you really understood how I felt, you wouldn't be trying to change my mind. So forget it, Erwin. I'm done. Go home to your wife and be happy. I'll be handing in my two weeks notice on monday." 

"Levi..." 

Not wasting another moment in that office, the shorter man walked out the door and left his office as quickly as he possibly could without running. Erwin didn't bother stopping him, he never had in the past and that was so like him. Levi was grateful, of course, that Erwin wasn't trying to press this matter. He understood that Levi had already made up his mind and he wasn't about to change it just because Erwin asked him to and that was just the way he always was. 

He felt like shit the entire way back to his apartment but lucky for him he only lived less than ten minutes away so he made it back to the familiar building in one piece. Still, seeing the giant building come into view had Levi's stomach sinking. He hadn't dreaded coming home this much since, well... he didn't want to think about that right now. The doorman greeted him but Levi didn't even spare him a glance as he simply stomped toward the elevators. He couldn't reach his floor quickly enough it seemed, since the elevator trip up felt like an eternity before he heard the familiar chime and watched as the doors opened. He had half expected to find Eren waiting for him out in the hall but like Erwin had said earlier, there was no one, only a folded piece of paper taped to the front of his door. 

When he drew close enough, Levi didn't even bother reading it, instead he simply yanked the paper off the wood of the door, crumpled it in his hands and tossed it on the ground without a second thought. He wasn't mentally prepared for some heartfelt letter trying to explain shit about the box. Frankly, he didn't want to hear it. 

Once he was back in his apartment, Levi found himself fighting an all new battle once more and it was one he had briefly forgotten about in his drunken haze the last two days. As he walked through his apartment, he had to force himself to ignore all the lingering remnants of Eren's presence in his home from the extra coat on the hooks behind the door to the dvd's and books that didn't belong to him on his bookshelf. Then there were the pictures but those were easy to ignore once he turned them faced down and walked away. But some things were harder to just ignore, like the two empty mugs in the sink that mad been used two mornings ago, one with trace amounts of coffee grounds (Eren's) and one with a tea bag still steeped inside (Levi's). But the worst of it was in the bedroom and while Levi knew it was a horrible idea from the start to walk into the room, he did it anyway and was immediately assaulted with the Eren's familiar scent of vanilla and cinnamon and whatever else. 

Tired, gray eyes trailed over to the unmade bed, the sheets in absolute dissaray from a night of sex and fooling around and Levi swallowed thickly when he remembered the words whispered and moaned in the darkness. He felt another piece of his heart shatter at this, but he forced himself to keep moving toward the bathroom. Of course, there was another reminder of Eren's more recent presence in the shampoo bottles and various other items but none were as damning than the slightly smudged hand print on the mirror where Levi very vividly remembered making love with Eren on the vanity. They'd knocked over everything on the counter top and it was all sort of in a mess but Levi couldn't look at it. He felt like he couldn't breath when the memories flooded his mind and soon he was back on that damn cold tile floor and losing his grip completely. 

He hated how he always somehow ended up on a bathroom floor whenever he experienced an attack but he also found a sort of security in it as well. The familiarity of the small space, the lack of comfort and the way the cool tiles helped him calm down quicker. But sobs wracked his body and he curled in on himself, fingers and nails digging into his own skin as he hugged himself in some vain attempt to hold on and keep it together but now that he was finally alone in the privacy of his apartment, it all came pouring it. 

He'd been bottling it up for the past two days, forcing it down but now it was overflowing and he hated himself immediately for it. How could he have let this happen? How did he let it go so far? That he was now nothing more than a broken man crying in the middle of a bathroom floor was entirely his own fault and he knew it. No amount of anger toward Hanji and Eren would change what he already knew from the start. This is what he got for letting his guard down, for thinking he could have a happy, normal life when he had settled with himself a long time ago that he would always be alone and he had grown to accept that. What was so bad about being alone? He'd done well so far, without the need of a lover, and sure he wasn't always the happiest but life wasn't about being happy all of the time. He had learned that a long time ago. But before all this shit, before Eren, he had learned to live with the fact that he was just meant to be alone and he was fine with that. 

Now, though, now he'd gotten a taste of what he could have and what he's always secretly wanted but was always too scared to ask for and in an instant it was gone, floor yanked out from under him and he was falling without a parachute and grasping for something to hold onto so that he wouldn't hit the ground and shatter. But he was shattering already and there was no one but him to pick up the broken pieces.

\- X -

Three days passed and Levi stayed cooped up in his apartment. He spent his mornings fighting through a wave of anxiety that would hit him from the very moment he woke up. It was hard the first day, considering he now slept on the living room couch instead of the bedroom, the second day wasn't any better but the anxiety didn't last quite as long and by the third day he had figured out a way to just power through it and that was by exercising until he felt stable enough to take a shower without hyperventilating in the corner for five whole minutes. Once the morning anxiety fight was out of the way, he buried himself in piles of work in his office just to distract himself long enough to forget about, well, everything. 

That was probably why he became a workaholic in the first place. Using every possible opportunity to lose himself in mindless work in order to escape the nasty thoughts that would otherwise plague him through out the day and night if he didn't. At least he was being fucking productive and not sleeping his days away. Though he found himself constantly exhausted and in desperate need of an energy boost. He was right back where he started before this whole shit with Eren started and while he appreciated the familiarity of his old way of life, it didn't mean he didn't notice that obvious fucking void in his life that he sometimes stopped to acknowledge. 

The lack of phone meant he hadn't received any texts or calls, both of which he had become accustomed to getting all day, every day at this point. To have it all just stop abruptly was... unsettling. But, he pushed past those moments and busied himself with more and more work as the days passed. Also, he wasn't completely unaware of the occasional knock at his front door that alerted him to Eren's presence. The brunet had made it a routine to stop by Levi's place twice a day, once in the morning and once in the late evening, knock on the door three times to see if Levi would by some miracle answer but of course, he never did. 

On the fifth day, the day just before Levi was scheduled to return to the office, the raven had sent an email to Erwin telling him that he was resigning. Promotion be damned, Levi would be a fucking downright masochist if he walked back into that building and had to work in close proximity with not only Eren but Hanji as well. He gave his two weeks notice and left it at that. Whether Erwin replied to his email, Levi didn't bother to check. He didn't care what the blond had to say. 

It was around 7pm when Levi was settling into his sectional with a book and a cup of tea when he heard a familiar knocking on his door but he paid it no mind as he cracked the book open and took a sip of his tea. He stubbornly ignored the ache in his chest as he skimmed the words on the page, unable to focus properly as his mind kept lingering on the single thought of Eren being just outside his front door. He was so close... 

"Levi, please talk to me." came a soft, muffled voice. 

It hurt him, hearing those words, and if he were a lesser man, he would probably yank that door open, pull Eren into a kiss and forgive everything because hell only knew he missed him like crazy but... he could no longer trust Eren the way he did before and that was the only thing keeping him from giving into his desires. He had to put himself first, no matter how much he still loved Eren. 

"If you'll just talk to me, I promise I'll... I'll leave and I won't bother you again." Levi could hear the fucking desperation in his voice as he said the next word. " _Please..._ " 

Fuck. 

_Fuck... ___

__Clenching his fists and his teeth, Levi took a few moments to decide and make up his mind before he was getting up from his seat and abandoning his book and his tea. He padded over toward the foyer where he hesitated on the step, his reading glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath and then took the plunge. His hand shook slightly as he unlocked the door and then turned the knob slowly._ _

__Upon seeing the relieved look on Eren's face, Levi let out a quite little relieved breath of his own because just seeing Eren was still like a soothing balm for his trembling heart. Though, Levi didn't miss the bags under his eyes and the disheveled look of his hair, like he'd been carding his hands through his fringe over and over and well, Levi could empathize with that._ _

__"Levi," the brunet breathed out in a sigh, a wan smile on his face. "Thank god you're okay."_ _

__Levi broke his gaze, knowing that if he stared too long into those gorgeous oceans for eyes that he'd grow weak and give Eren whatever he wanted. He needed to be strong and say his peace._ _

__"Come in." was all he said before stepping away and leaving the door open for Eren to follow him._ _

__Several minutes later, Levi found himself standing across from his former lover in the dark living room. The only light source was the small table side lamp that he was using to read his book but it supplied little light for much else. Still, he could make out Eren's features almost perfectly, having memorized them so well by now._ _

__"I... I was really worried about you." came Eren's hesitant words. "You haven't been answering anyone's calls or texts."_ _

__"I broke my phone." Came Levi's indifferent response. "It was getting on my nerves."_ _

__Silence fell over them after that and Levi had left the ball in Eren's court now. He wanted to see where the brunet would take this conversation and what he would say now that Levi had given him this golden opportunity to speak._ _

__"Levi, I-I know you're angry about the box, but, you've got to believe me. I meant to tell you about it."_ _

__"Is that right?" the raven hummed. So far, he was doing well in keeping up his usual aloofness but he wasn't sure how long that would last._ _

__"Y-Yes! I mean, from the beginning I didn't feel right taking it from Hanji but she was just so adamant about it and I... I guess I was just really curious. When she gave it to me, I still didn't know all that much about you but I knew that I definitely liked you and I wanted to know you better." Eren explained._ _

__Crossing his arms over his chest, Levi finally met Eren's gaze, though he kept his own expression closed off and guarded. "And? What's your opinion of poor, sad, little broken orphan Levi?"_ _

__"I--" The raven watched as Eren opened his mouth to say something but then seemed to think better of it. "Honestly? I cried after I watched the first video tape and I just knew that I needed to do something."_ _

__"Aw." Levi mocked. "Did turning me into your little charity project help you feel better?"_ _

__He saw the flash of anger on Eren's face, which satisfied him greatly. The way his brows pinched together and his lips twisted down into a frown._ _

__"Stop that." Eren snapped. "That's not what happened."_ _

__"Could have fooled me." scoffed Levi._ _

__"You think that I just faked all that shit?"_ _

__"No, I know you didn't fake it, Eren." Levi sighed. "I just think you fooled yourself into believing whatever you felt for me was real. You confused sympathy with love."_ _

__"Levi, you can't honestly believe that!" the brunet laughed, mild hysteria in his tone. "Tell me you're fucking joking."_ _

__"I'm serious as a heart attack." the older man spat. Eren stood there, staring at him while looking honestly shell-shocked by what he was hearing._ _

__When he finally managed to remember how to use words, Eren took a step forward and his expression morphed from shock to genuine concern._ _

__"Levi, I love you." he said, eyes glassing over with fresh tears._ _

__"Don't." the other man bit out._ _

__"I don't know how else to prove it to you, but I do. I love you like fucking crazy."_ _

__"I said don't, Eren." Levi huffed, feeling his resolve starting to crumble already. "Don't fucking try to fix this. You can't."_ _

__"You're the only one I want, Levi. I want _you_."_ _

__"Just fucking stop!" Eren looked surprised to hear Levi actually raise his voice but now that the dam was breaking, Levi pushed on. "Just stop! I don't want to hear anymore of your fucking bullshit! I'm so tired of getting my hopes up and then getting them crushed every time I think I can actually be happy for once! It can't happen!"_ _

__"Why? Why can't we be happy together!?" Eren demanded, taking another few steps closer until he was toe to toe with Levi who was doing his best to regain his composure. "You love me and I love you. What's stopping us?" he asked._ _

__"I don't want to love you!" Levi screamed, a sob wracking his body. He covered his mouth with his hand as he felt tears start to flow from his eyes freely. No longer was he in control of his emotions and he hated it. "I hate this. I hate that you make me feel this way!" Removing the glasses from his face, Levi wiped away his tears with a sleeve. He didn't even care that Eren was seeing him cry, all he cared about was getting these feelings off his chest so they could stop plaguing him every second of every day. "I hate how you have so much power over me and I hate how you can fuck me up this badly. I never asked for this and I know you didn't either. I fucking know that it's my fault we're even in this situation in the first place and I'm to blame but I just can't stand how the thought of living without you scares the shit out of me!"_ _

__In a rush of movement, Eren was grabbing Levi and kissing him so passionately that it prompted another sob from the older man as he finally broke down and gave in, wrapping his arms around Eren's neck and pulling him in for a deeper kiss. It was messy and desperate but he didn't care._ _

__"Then don't." Eren suddenly said when he pulled away. "Don't force yourself to live without me. Stay with me..."_ _

__Blinking away his tears, Levi calmed enough to remember their situation and he sniffled before pushing Eren away._ _

__"I can't." he said, once his sobbing had subsided and he was in control of his emotions again. "I'm sorry."_ _

__"Don't do this, Levi." Eren said, sounding on the verge of tears himself. "I love you."_ _

__"... I know you do." the raven sighed. "But... you deserve better. Not some fucking depressed thirty-year-old mess of a fucking human being." he laughed as he said that last part but it was mirthless._ _

__" _Please_..." Eren pleaded. _ _

__Turning his back on the brunet, Levi wiped the last of his tear tracks with a sleeve of his shirt and fully composed himself._ _

__"I think you should leave now, Eren."_ _

__The brunet lingered for a few minutes, Levi could hear him sniffling and shuffling around before he finally heard the sound of Eren's footfalls heading toward the door and if that sound didn't just break him all the more, the sound of the front door shutting behind him certainly did. Finally, he was alone and Eren was gone-- truly gone._ _

__...And this was the way it was supposed to be. With Levi alone, in a dark room. That was how it always was..._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for how long this chapter took me to finish and post. I had awful writer's block and I just started a new job recently. Updates for this fic might vary but I'll try not to take so long to update next time!
> 
> Thanks for bearing with me so far! You're all great. 
> 
> We're getting close to the end and I'm sorry I had to dump all this angst on everyone but, well, I'm not that sorry lmao


	25. If I'm Lost (then how can I find myself?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> _'♪ I can't recall another time I was fine for the life of me_  
>  _I don't know where I'm going but I can't keep staying inside_  
>  _I don't know if I'm living or forgetting I'm waiting to die_  
>  _And I still keep coming up with nothing like it's all just stuck in my mind_  
>  _I don't know where I'm running but I hope I don't run out of time ♪'_
> 
>  
> 
> **Jon D** \- I Don't Know

Levi spent most of his time at home now, despite it being just a bit too much for him sometimes. He had finally gotten around to clearing out anything and everything that even remotely reminded him of Eren, pictures and personal belongings included. It had been... challenging, but in the end, he managed to clear up without having another unscheduled attack, which he considered a win no matter how small the victory. 

In the days that followed, he had the box of items shipped back to Eren via the post office because like hell was he going to drop it off himself or have Eren come and retrieve it. Not after the way they left things that night. Levi often thought about it, how could he not? Had he made the right decision? Did he perhaps overreact? The answer was Yes, he had made the right decision because he knew eventually Eren would have come to his senses and seen him for the mess he was and no, he didn't think he overreacted. He had every right to be angry and upset over his best friend going behind his back and giving away something so personal to the one person Levi hoped would never see in the first place. 

No amount of apologies would fix what was already done and while, yes, he would miss the fuck out of Eren, he knew deep down in his heart this was the best for the both of them. Even if it didn't feel like it at the moment... even if it hurt more than anything he could have ever hypothetically imagined. But that was over now and he was moving on with his life. He had to. 

While moving on sounded easier said than done, Levi found himself doing just that a couple of weeks later when he received a letter in the mail from someone named Petra Ral. He had been confused at first, thinking it was a letter that had been mistakenly left at his address box but as he examined the letter, studied it's oddly familiar handwriting in all it's dainty, elegant lines and strokes, realization slowly dawned on him and any and all thoughts of Eren or Hanji were banished from his mind. 

Petra Ral, a woman from his hometown in Quebec. His memory of her was just the tiniest bit hazy but he remembered her name and definitely the handwriting scrawled across the envelope. It wasn't as tight or as neat as he remembered it being but it was still unmistakably hers. He carefully opened the letter and read it's contents, feeling nostalgia wash over him when the woman addressed him by a nickname he had forgotten over the years. 

_'Hello, my little crow.  
I'm sure you don't remember me, and I would understand if you didn't. You were very small when we last saw each other, but I remember you. I hope this letter finds you well. I often wondered what become of the little boy who used to wander into my bookstore and what kind of person he grew up to be. I always hoped he grew up to be a kind and happy person._

_Time, however, has not been kind to me, but I prayed for you every night, my little one. You have always been in my thoughts, even now as I write this letter from my room at the local hospice. It took some work and several phone calls to several children's homes, but I was finally able to find you again and I had hoped to see you one last time before my disease takes it's toll. I would understand if you disregarded this letter, but should you wish to see me as well, I will be at Rose Hospice._

_Take care, my little crow.'_

Levi found himself just the tiniest bit choked up as he stared down at the neatly folded letter in his hands, that painful lump in his throat as his eyes lingered on the words 'disease' and 'hospice' like they were glued there. How could he have forgotten about her? All these years he'd spent dwelling on his losses and his disasters that he hadn't even bothered to remember the only thing thing about his childhood and that was a kind young woman who owned a tiny bookstore in his hometown. 

Petra had been the first person in Levi's young life to treat him with any kindness and for a short time, she had been like a mother to him. She had even taught him how to read and write, because hell, his Uncle sure didn't give enough of a shit to send him to a proper school to learn even that much. Petra had been a safe haven from the constant fear and uncertainty he had, even as a young child no older than five or six. 

Suddenly, Levi hurried from the foyer into his office where he immediately started searching for the contact information for Rose Hospice, no doubt, located in his hometown in Quebec, but that was not his concern right now. He found what he was looking for quickly enough and dialed the number faster than any number he'd dialed before in his life.

_"Rose Hospice. How may we help you?"_

Levi had to take a moment to prepare himself as he took in a shaky breath and then held it before speaking, "... I'm calling about a patient in your care. Petra Ral."

_"Oh!"_ the woman chirped almost excitedly. _"You wouldn't happen to be Levi?"_ she asked. 

"Yes," he exhaled. "I am." 

_"Miss Ral has been waiting for your call. She'll be so happy."_

With relief washing over him, Levi slumped back into his chair and felt the tiniest of smiles twitch the corner of his lips. "So, she's... doing alright?" he couldn't help asking. 

_"Well, she has her good and bad days but for the most part, yes, she's doing well for her condition."_

"Good." he said with a nod of his head. "That's good." 

_"Would you like me to transfer the call to her room? She'll be so excited to hear from you."_

"Uh, no." Levi said swallowing thickly. "No. That's alright. I would much rather speak to her in person." Grabbing a pen and a notepad from his desk, he prepared to right down the information needed to see her. "Could I ask what floor and room she's in and the address of the hospice?" 

_"Of course."_

\- X -

Needless to say, Levi booked a flight back to Quebec that very next day and had packed and left for the airport without any other thought in mind. He felt anxious about returning home, but he reasoned with himself that it was for a good reason. Still, he never thought he'd be going back, if he were honest with himself. Too many unpleasant memories and there was really nothing there for him. Well, at least there wasn't anything there for him before but now he had a good reason for going home.

He didn't bother telling anyone he had left, there was really no one to tell except maybe Erwin but even that was a long shot. He wasn't angry or upset with Erwin but because he was Hanji's husband, by proxy, anything Levi told him he would tell Hanji and that sort of defeated the purpose. Besides, this was his personal business and no one else needed to know about it. No one else needed to be involved. 

The flight was quicker than he expected it to be, or maybe he was just that preoccupied with his own thoughts that the flight felt surprisingly short. He arrived in Trois-Rivières early in the afternoon and this time, he didn't bother calling a car service because he remembered every street in this town, almost as if he'd never left it twenty years ago. Nothing had changed, not much anyway. A couple of new businesses where old ones once were and maybe a few new street signs but otherwise, everything was the same and he quickly found himself walking down familiar streets, his feet carrying him almost unconsciously. 

He spent about a half hour wandering down the main streets and simply sight seeing, just to confirm for himself that everything was the same. The old bakery he used to pass by where the old baker would sometimes yell at kids around his age for pressing their faces up against the glass and smudging it all up, a flower shop an elderly couple of sisters once owned now seemed to be taken over by their children or perhaps grandchildren. Levi made a stop at the flower shop and decided on picking up some flowers for Petra, lest he show up empty handed. 

Almost immediately, the young woman behind the counter smiled at him and began asking him questions. 

"Hello! What can I help you with today?" 

Levi was a little clueless as to what kinds of flowers he should bring with him, considering it had been years since he last saw Petra and he couldn't remember if she had a flower that she preferred. Was she allergic to anything? Damn, maybe he should have asked the woman at the hospice before he just decided to buy flowers. 

"Uh, I'm looking for something for a hospice patient." he said awkwardly. "I'm... um, not entirely sure what she likes or if she's even allergic to anything." 

"Oh, well, that's alright. We have a selection of hypoallergenic flowers that should be safe for her. Roses are always the most popular choice, Begonias, Petunias, Lilies, Tulips, Snapdragons, Daffodils. Take your pick." 

"I'm not really an expert on flowers, so, whatever you think will look nice. Maybe something that doesn't scream "I'm sorry you're dying"?" he said, hoping to get his point across. Once again he was reminded of how socially inept he was and briefly he worried that he had just said something very inappropriate but, thankfully, the young woman laughed and Levi relaxed. 

"True. Very good point. Hmm." he watched as her brown eyes browsed the wide selection of arrangements they had inside the shop before she seemed to settle on one specific arrangement. "How about the yellow Begonias? I always find those to be pretty cheerful." 

Levi watched as she walked away to pick up the modestly sized arrangement of pale soft yellow Begonias, and while yellow wasn't exactly his choice for, well, anything, he could see why she would suggest these particular flowers. They weren't overly vibrant to the point of being obnoxiously yellow and cheerful but quite subtle. 

"Alright." he agreed, already whipping out his wallet. "I'll take those." 

"Sure thing. Would you like to fill out a card?" 

"No need. I'm going to be giving her the flowers myself." he said, sliding one of his credit cards across the counter top. 

"That's so sweet." the blonde girl cooed. "Alright. You're good to go. I hope your lady friend likes the flowers." 

"You and me both." sighed Levi as he picked up the arrangement carefully and pocketed his wallet. 

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll love them! Good luck!" the girl called after him. 

Well, now that Levi was prepared with some flowers, he started making his way toward the Hospice which was a little out of his way but he enjoyed the walk, despite the chilled air. He was glad he had decided to wear his heavy pea coat today instead of just an overcoat and his turtleneck. 

The hospice was surprisingly small but homey looking from the outside. It didn't look like a hospice at all, in fact, more like a cozy little retirement home if anything. It's walls were painted a warm beige with white trim and there was even a garden around the side that Levi could smell walking in. Gardenias. The smell followed him into the building where he was greeted politely by an older woman at the receptionists desk. 

He was surprised to find that there was quite the process for him to go through in order to visit a patient but he supposed it was only for the safety of the people under their care. He had to sign in on a sign-in sheet and leave his I.D. with the front desk until his visit was over, which he was only mildly annoyed with but his only concern was finally seeing the woman he'd somehow forgotten about completely in the last twenty-something years since he'd been gone. 

The walk down the hallway toward Petra's room was daunting. He found himself getting a little nervous because he wasn't sure how this meeting would go. If Petra's was going to be everything he remembered her being or not. Levi liked to consider himself a realist, so he didn't try to set some kind of over exaggerated standards for himself for this meeting but, there was a small inkling of hope there that he'd find something that maybe was missing from his life this entire time. A part of himself that he lost and left behind. 

Upon reaching her door, he took a deep breath and hesitated to open the door. His hand hovered over the handle while his eyes stayed glued to the numbers on the door, then the little placard with the last name 'Ral' on it. This was it... 

He decided it was better to knock first and when he did, the voice that he heard from the other side calmed some of the fear and anxiety in his trembling heart. 

"Come in." a sweet voice called. 

Taking another deep breath, Levi swallowed and then finally grabbed the handle, twisting it and pushing the door open. A flowery scent hit his nose, something old and familiar that made his heart clench and his body to relax as he entered the room slowly. 

The room wasn't small by any means, about the size of a small apartment, perhaps. Like the rest of the building, the walls were painted in warm colors and the floor was hardwood. There was a rather large couch, an old but comfy looking recliner and a few chairs along with a rather large window that looked to lead out onto a small terrace. Levi could see the garden from where he stood. His eyes immediately landed on the petite figure sitting at the edge of the bed at the center of the room, a frail looking woman with strawberry blonde hair, though it had thinned considerably and there was plenty of silver streaking through it. 

Familiar eyes trailed up to meet his, warm browns softening at the sight of him and Levi felt himself exhale shakily because he remembered those kind eyes. They used to soften just like that whenever he'd stumble into the bookstore all scraped and bruised and dirty. Then, thin lips stretched up into a smile and like a contagion, Levi found himself smiling right back. 

"My little crow." he heard her say with fondness in her voice. "You've grown so big."

He had found it, finally. That missing thing he'd been looking for all these years. With just a few words, Levi felt all his anxiety and fear wash away, all the stress and heartache over the past few weeks melted away, at least for now, and he was overcome with an emotion he couldn't even describe because he'd never experienced it before. Well, maybe only once, with Eren, but this was a different kind of feeling. 

"Hello, Petra." he greeted, voice soft. 

"I was hoping you'd come by." she giggled. "The lost little crow who wandered into my bookstore one day." 

Levi chuckled and finally walked the rest of the way into the room, shutting the door behind him as he did so. He set the flowers down on the nightstand next to her bed and removed the heavy black pea coat from his shoulders as he got comfortable. 

"Begonias!" He heard Petra chirp. "I love Begonias. How did you know?" she asked, reaching over and picking up the small arrangement to admire them more closely. 

"I didn't." he admitted, pulling a chair up so that he was sitting close to her bedside. "I had plenty of help from a girl at the flower shop on the main street." 

"Oh, that must have been Micha." 

"Micha?" 

"Yes. Her grandmother owned that shop with her sister. Do you remember her grandmother?" 

Levi snorted softly, "A little bit, yes." 

"Sweet women but such gossips!"

He watched as Petra laughed, bright and cheerfully, and it filled him with joy to see her in such a state. When he learned she was in a hospice, he expected the worst but thankfully, that was not the case. 

"... How did you find me?" he finally asked, sounding so very dumbfounded and confused. "In all the years I've been gone, I didn't think anyone--" 

"I never forgot about you, little one." Petra said, reaching over and placing her hand against Levi's cheek. It was similar to the way Carla would do and Levi now realized why he found the gesture so comforting. "I've thought about you everyday since you left." 

And this was the thing he was missing, Levi realized. Being here with Petra, her hand on his cheek, it was like coming home, literally. He felt the moment when his heart overflowed with that indescribable emotion from earlier and almost unconsciously, he leaned into her touch, one hand reaching up to place right over her smaller one. 

"I didn't think anyone cared." he chuckled quietly. 

"Oh, my little crow." Petra sighed. "I wanted you. I really did."

"... then, why didn't you take me?" he whispered, suddenly feeling so small and helpless in Petra's eyes. 

"I tried. I met with your uncle a few times and asked him to give me custody over you if he wasn't going to take care of you but each time he refused to speak to me and then, he was gone and you were gone." 

Of course, his Uncle was behind the whole thing. That man was the reason behind his entire miserable childhood and he only hoped the bastard had choked on his own blood and died long ago. 

"Oh, little one. I can only imagine what you must have been through." Petra began to sniffle. "But seeing you here now, all grown up and so strong and handsome. That's all I could have hoped for you." 

Levi leaned forward and wiped away a stray tear that fell from Petra's eyes before taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently. 

"It wasn't easy, growing up in a home with all those other kids but I managed." 

"I'm sure you were scooped up by a wonderful family." 

A silence hung over them at her mention of him behind adopted by a nice family because Levi wasn't exactly sure how to tell her that it was the exact opposite. He wasn't sure he had the heart to tell her for fear of making her feel guilty when none of it was her fault but, he knew she could already tell from his lingering silence. 

"Oh... Oh, Levi. No. I'm so sorry." she started apologizing. 

"Don't apologize, Petra." he was quick to say. "You have nothing to be sorry about."

"But if I had just fought for you..." she sobbed. 

"Petra." Levi called her softly. "It's true. I didn't end up getting adopted by some nice family but it didn't matter because I still did alright." 

It all came pouring out of him after that, from his stay in the various foster homes to meeting Isabel and Farlan and how they died in a car accident. He didn't leave anything out, however, seeing how Petra would know if he was lying to her or not and at this point, after all the heartache he'd endured these last few weeks, he needed someone to talk to more than ever. He spoke of Hanji and Erwin and Mike, of how they were the closest thing to a family he could have ever asked for and how Hanji and Erwin were married and expecting twins. Petra seemed especially thrilled to hear about that, though she seemed a little disappointed that Levi had no significant other to speak of or even a family. But, she gave him sage advice about dealing with his grief and anger over Hanji's actions and Levi took her advice with a grain of salt. 

"So, you still haven't told me about one specific thing." she said, now comfortably laying down once she got tired of sitting up at the edge of her bed. 

"What's that?" Levi asked, as he arranged the flowers near the window sill so that she could see them from her bed. 

"Do you not have anyone in your life? All this time..." 

He stopped arranging the flowers momentarily to consider her question carefully before he decided he would tell her about Eren. He'd already told her everything else, so why leave out such an important part of his life? 

"Well, up until recently I was involved with someone." he said, back still turned to her as he continued to arrange the flowers to his liking. 

"Oh? And why are you no longer involved?" she asked curiously. 

Finally, Levi turned and walked back to his seat before he answered her, needing that extra few seconds to think of a way to tell her about Eren. Words never seemed to be enough whenever he had to describe him or how he made Levi feel, but he would try his best anyway. 

"His name was Eren Jaeger. He was my Assistant at work for about three years." A fond smile stretched across his lips as he brought up the subject of Eren, despite himself. "It's actually a really odd story of how we ended up together, considering we both couldn't stand each other before but... when I actually started getting to know him, I realized just what an amazing person he was." 

"Sounds like you loved him." Petra smiled. 

"... I did." Levi said softly. "I do." 

"Then, why are you not with him?" 

"... It's a long, complicated story." he sighed heavily. "But, I guess the short version is that I decided to let him go and find a happier life with someone else. God only knows he deserves it." 

Petra was quiet for a long moment, seeming to be deep in thought over Levi's words. He wondered if perhaps she was tired or if she needed anything considering he had already been here a couple of hours and she had yet to say otherwise. 

"Did he love you?" she suddenly asked. 

Slightly surprised, Levi took a moment to answer. "I'd like to think he did." 

"Tell me what he was like." came Petra's odd request as she settled into her bed and got comfortable. 

Levi couldn't help but let out a quiet little laugh of amusement at that. "Trust me, I'm not the most eloquent so I don't think I'd be able to do Eren any justice." 

"Just try." she encouraged him gently. "I want to know what kind of person managed to capture my little crow's heart." 

He took a moment to think about it but in the end, Levi didn't think he could bring himself to talk about Eren right now. The wounds were still too fresh for him. 

"Maybe another time." he suggested. "I should really let you rest." 

"Oh, you're no fun." Petra pouted. "It's not like I'm going anywhere. Terminal Cancer tends to ruin ones future plans." she joked lightheartedly. 

Levi stood up from his seat and stared down at the frail woman. Petra was still young, maybe just a few years older than Eren's own mother but much too young to be suffering at the hand of such an advanced stage of cancer. 

"Don't worry." he reassured with a small smile. "I'm planning on staying this time."

"Oh?" 

"Mm. Besides, I'm a little curious to know what happened to my Uncle's old house." 

"Last I heard, it was abandoned but that was about ten years ago. It could have been bought and sold by now." 

"I think I'll go see for myself." Grabbing his coat and shrugging it on, Levi took a step forward and leaned down to place a kiss on Petra's forehead. "I'll come back tomorrow morning." 

"Good. You can meet my husband Oluo." she grinned. 

"You're married?" Levi asked with a smirk. 

"Of course! Someone as tiny and as cute as me doesn't stay a single girl for long." she joked. 

"Of course not." he laughed. "Well, I look forward to meeting him then. I'm leaving my cell phone number with the nurse at the front desk. Just in case." 

"It was good to see you, my little one." 

Before he walked out the door, Levi stopped and looked back at Petra one last time seeing her smile gently at him with so much love in her eyes. 

"It was good to see you again, too. I'll be back in the morning. I promise." 

As he left the hospice, luggage and bags in hand, Levi kept his word and left his cell phone number with the nurse at the front desk asking her to call him in case anything happened. But, as he left the building, he found himself greatly saddened by Petra's situation. If he had only come home sooner... maybe he could have met her when she was still healthy and not at death's door. He hated how he always seemed to have the worst of luck with these things. He was just so tired of the 'What if's' and the "if only's'. He planned on putting a stop to that now. No matter how long it took, he planned on staying with Petra, until the end. This was going to be something he would not regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a little hard updating because of work but I managed to crank this little baby out, finally.
> 
> For once, I'm pleased with a chapter lol took me only a couple of hours to bang it out. Anyway, yes, some minor ow ows here but expect a little more Petra in the future. I've been planning to introduce her for over a year now and it's finally happening.


	26. So Close to Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> _'♪ Wouldn't you like to know just how I'm doing? It's been so long  
>  This place feels just the same, Old and forgotten, this frozen sand♪'_
> 
>  
> 
> **So Close To Magic** \- **Aquilo**

On the third day of his stay in his hometown, Levi had finally found the time and the courage to go back to his childhood home and face whatever awaited him there. A big part of him hoped that the house had already been bought and sold to a new family, but that hope was crushed as soon as he saw the familiar house come into view with it's slanted rooftop and it's chipped white paint. 

It looked absolutely abandoned, with some of the roof shingles missing and the windows boarded up along with their broken shutters. The driveway needed to be repaved and the foundation was cracked, shifting the house and causing the cement on the sidewalk to crack right down the center. To put it bluntly, the house looked even shittier than Levi remembered it looking as a child and he briefly thought about turning around and leaving because there was no way in hell there was anyone living inside there but he was unfortunately proven wrong when he saw movement in the kitchen window, most likely the only window that wasn't completely boarded up, which he found only slightly odd. 

Well, what were the chances that whoever was inside the house were just some squatters? Something told him that was highly unlikely. So, with a heavy sigh and reluctant footsteps, Levi made his way up the creaky front porch with it's loose wooden panels and what was probably decades of termite damage. The front screen door was practically hanging off it's hinges, the screen had several holes in it, looking suspiciously like bullet holes and Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes as he pushed the screen door aside with some effort and wrapped his knuckles against the white, wood door, that had also looked like it had seen better days. 

He waited for quite some time, hearing some shuffling movement on the other side of the door before finally the sound of locks clicking and a deadbolt being unlocked was heard and then the door cracked open just the tiniest smidge. He saw an old and weathered face look out at him and for a second, he almost didn't recognize the old man staring back out at him with a severe frown, or rather, a severe scowl. The man scowled down at him for a bit, as if waiting for Levi to say something, but when he didn't, the man studied him carefully. 

Levi saw the recognition light up in his eyes as he seemed to realize just who it was that was standing at his doorstep, and finally, the man stopped hiding behind the door and swung it open revealing his thin, lanky form. 

"Well, if it ain't the little runt!" Kenny said with a bark of laughter. His voice was rough and cracked and Levi could hear the man's age in his tone -- never mind the streaks of silver in his once inky black hair. "What do you want? I'd heard you fucked off years ago and ain't no one heard from ya since." 

Levi couldn't help but scowl at the use of Kenny's old nickname for him as a kid. He always hated being called a runt by his Uncle. Now that he thought about it, he didn't think he'd ever heard his Uncle use his name, ever. Not once. 

"What the fuck do you think I want, you mean old bastard?" 

A blink of surprise from Kenny and then another loud bark of laughter shook his body as he threw his head back. "Damn, I see you grew up to be one ballsy little piece of shit. Good. Looks like those lessons I taught you paid off." 

"You mean all those times you used to forget to feed me?" Levi scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Let's call them lessons." 

"Hey," Kenny frowned. "That was just my way of teaching you to toughen up, kiddo. The world is a rough place and ain't nobody gonna hold your hand and baby ya." 

"Spare me the lecture." Levi said as he pushed his way past Kenny and into the foyer. The man didn't try to stop him, instead simply took a step aside and let him in. Levi immediately frowned upon entering the house. "Fuck. Don't you ever clean this shit hole?" he asked, observing all the dust and dirt that coated the walls and ceilings. 

"I'm old, runt. Ain't got the energy to clean nothin'." 

"Bullshit. They have cleaning services. I bet you're just too cheap of a bastard to wanna pay more than a dime to have someone clean this place for you." 

"Damn right." Kenny sniffed as he walked past Levi and into the living room where he plopped down into an old, worn out looking recliner. There were a couple of cats meandering about, to which Levi curled his lip up in disgust at. "But look at you, showing up here out of nowhere with your fancy clothes and your nice shoes. You've certainly done well for yourself, so what do ya want? Surely, you didn't come here just to see your dear, old Uncle." 

"Not a chance." Levi said as he walked into the living room but refused to sit on anything that looked even remotely clean because he had a feeling it probably wasn't. So, he stood instead and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at his Uncle who stared blankly at the old, fossil of a television that was still set up in the same place he remembered it being as a kid. "I actually just came to see if you'd kicked the bucket and if they sold this crap hole to someone else." 

"Ha!" Kenny guffawed. "As if I'd be dead. I'm indestructible. Been shot, stabbed, hit in the head with a lead pipe and had about two or three strokes in the last twenty years and I'm still kicking." 

"Unfortunately." Levi said flatly. 

"Yep. I guess the good lord just won't take me." 

"I think you mean Satan."

"Well, yeah, probably. After all the shit I've done, I'm going to hell for sure." he huffed. "But you still haven't answered my question. What do you want? Ain't nothing here for you, if that's what you were lookin' for." 

"I wasn't." Levi said curtly as he shooed one of the cats away from his leg. "Like I said, I just came by to see if you'd croaked. Seeing as you haven't, I guess my business here is done."

"Whoa, hold on there, runt. Ain't ya gonna stay and keep your old Uncle company for awhile? I ain't seen you in, what, twenty years? Maybe more? I'm curious to know what happened to you after I got locked up."

"What for? It's not like you care." 

Kenny went quiet at that, eyes downcast as he turned to face Levi in his chair. "Look, kid. When you get to be my age and you've gone through hell and back multiple times over, I don't know... call it sentimentally or whatever the fuck those shrinks wanna call it. You and me, we're the only family we got and I'm just surprised to see ya." 

Levi took a moment to consider his Uncle's words as he lingered between the living room and the hallway, unsure of whether or not he should go or stay. But, in the end, he decided to indulge the old man, if only for just a little while. Plus, there were a couple of things he wanted to get off his chest anyway, now that he was here. 

"I'll stay for a bit, but frankly, I don't see the point in it. I only came back to Quebec to visit a sick friend." 

"You talkin' about that little red-head that was always comin' around here asking for you?" Kenny asked. 

"... How'd you know?" 

"Word gets around. Plus, after I got out of prison, I dropped by her bookstore thinking maybe she'd finally taken the chance and scooped you up like she always said she wanted to but when I went back, they told me she had retired."

"She mentioned that." Levi said, leaning against a wall that didn't look too dusty but he was careful about getting his coat dirty regardless. "Honestly, I don't know why you didn't just pawn me off to her. It's not like you would have missed me." 

"You would think, wouldn't you?" Kenny chuckled. "But you know, the truth is, I promised your mother before she died that I'd take care of you and... well, I guess I didn't do a very good job of it, did I?" 

"Hell no. I was miserable." 

"Yeah, that's what I figured. Ah, shit, kid. I'm not exactly cut out to be a dad and I proved that already but... I guess I just didn't wanna let you go because you were my last tie to Kuchel and every time I looked at you, I saw her looking back." 

A silence hung over them as Levi let his words sink in, an odd mixture of feelings welling up inside of him. Anger, frustration, sympathy, pity... he just didn't know which felt more strongest at the moment. 

Eventually, he just sighed tiredly. "Do you have any idea what I went through because of you?" 

"... At least you didn't end up like me." 

"I almost did." Levi snapped, suddenly feeling that previous anger rise up inside him. "I could have ended up a lot like you, but luckily I met some people who helped set me fucking straight. I was a goddamn hell raiser when I was a teenager." 

He heard his uncle chuckle, "Glad I wasn't around for that phase." 

"I lived on the streets, I did anything I had to survive and if it hadn't been for my friends, I would be dead or in prison right now. I owe them everything..." he said quietly. 

Thinking back to Hanji and Erwin and even Mike, Levi felt his heart clench painfully. He had forgotten just how important they were to him since the whole box situation and while, yes, he was still upset about Hanji going behind his back like that, he couldn't deny that he still considered her family for sticking it out with him all these years. 

"No shit?" Kenny asked, snapping Levi out of his thoughts. "Sounds like you didn't do so bad after all." 

Sucking his teeth, Levi pushed off the wall and walked the perimeter of the room, observing what little his Uncle kept of personal value. 

"I did alright, in the end. Graduated High School. Went to College. I'm living in New York City, now." 

"Oh? So you're some kinda big shot, now? That explains the fancy clothes and shoes." 

"No thanks to you." the raven said jokingly as he stopped in front of his Uncle's chair and stared down at the man who regarded him with a crooked grin but remorseful eyes. 

"I don't claim any credit for you, kid. This is all you. I only hope... ah, I don't have any right to ask this." he said, rubbing at the back of his neck as he reached over to a small table to grab a pack of cigarettes. 

"You don't," Levi agreed. "But you may as well ask anyway." 

He watched as his Uncle lit the cigarette that hung from his mouth and then watched as he took a long drag before exhaling a plume of smoke. He coughed violently a couple of times, then it turned persistent and Levi was forced to walk into the kitchen to get him a glass of water. Once again, he was punched in the gut by how unchanged everything in the house was. It was almost as if he'd never left. He knew this house -- knew it like the back of his hand; knew the layout, remembered which floorboards not to step on because they creaked and which kitchen tiles were cracked and loose.

Walking back out into the living room, Levi handed his Uncle the glass of water and waited patiently for the man's coughing fit to pass. 

"... All I ask is that you don't think badly of me, when I'm gone." Kenny said, once he could breath easily, though he kept smoking those damn disgusting cigarettes anyway. 

Sighing, Levi ran his hand through his overgrown undercut. He really needed a trim. Then, he suddenly remembered all the times his Uncle would sit him down on the toilet seat in this very house and shaved the back of his head whenever his hair would start getting too long. All these years... he had kept the same haircut without even really thinking about it. 

"Maybe I'm fucking stupid for saying this but... I don't think badly of you, anymore." he said. 

"That is stupid of you." Kenny laughed. "I was a mean son of a bitch." 

"You were." Levi agreed with a smirk of his own. "As a kid and a teenager, I hated you. You were the person I blamed for everything that was wrong with me but, now that I'm older I realized that I've been blaming you because it was easy. As horrible of a guardian as you were, I won't lie and say I didn't carry whatever stupid bullshit advice you used to give me back as a kid about surviving in this world." 

"Yeah?" Kenny asked, some kind of hope coloring his voice and a touch of amusement.

"Yeah. You'll be glad to know that anybody who fucked with me always ended up beaten up pretty badly." Levi chuckled. "I can't even count how many times I ended up in trouble for beating the shit out of some kid in the orphanage or at school." 

Kenny began howling with laughter once he was finished with his cigarette, "Well, at least I managed to teach you how to be a tough little son of a bitch." 

"You did." the raven agreed as he ran a hand through his hair once more. "But, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't resent you." 

His Uncle was quiet for a bit, eyes surprisingly glassy as he lit another cigarette but left it lit in his hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't a better Father to you, Levi." he said quietly. "I loved my sister more than anything and sometimes, it was just hard to look at you." he choked out what sounded like a laugh but Levi couldn't really tell. "Hell, even now, twenty years later I see you and you're still the goddamn spitting image of her." 

"... Is this your weird way of saying I'm pretty?" Levi asked in a flat voice. 

"Ha!" Kenny barked. "You're a riot, runt. I'm glad you stopped by." 

"Yeah, I guess I am too." he admitted. "But, I should probably get going. I promised Petra I'd stop by to meet her kids at the hospice today." Levi straightened up from his position leaning against that wall and started smoothing out his coat as he started for the door.

"Hold up there, runt." Kenny said as he stood up from his chair, cigarette hanging from his mouth as he approached Levi. "Before you go, how about a trim?" 

"What--" 

"Thought I wouldn't notice you kept your hair in the same style I used to give you when you were just a little kid?" Kenny gave him a wide, toothy grin, eyes crinkling and wrinkles stretching across his aged face. "Good to know some things don't change, huh?" 

Running his hand through his overgrown undercut, Levi frowned and decided to take Kenny up on his offer. 

"Alright. A trim for old time's sake, you old fart." 

Kenny chuckled as he jerked his head in the direction of the small bathroom in the hallway and Levi shrugged off his jacket before hanging it up on an unused hook behind the door. It was the safest place for his jacket, for now. He followed his Uncle into the bathroom and he was almost surprised to find that it was cleaner than he expected. 

"Don't look so surprised." Kenny mumbled past the burning cigarettes still balanced between his lips. "I'm not completely disgusting. Take off that damn sweater you're wearing." 

Levi didn't hesitate, for once, in taking off the gray turtleneck he was wearing that day, pulling the thick material up and over his head. The house was cold and he couldn't help but shudder slightly when the cold hit his skin. He folded the sweater up neatly and set it aside on the sink that again, he had to take notice was surprisingly clean. The mirror was a little smudged and stained with years and years of dust built up, but there wasn't much to be done with that at the moment. 

"What the hell is all that shit?" Kenny asked with a slight frown as he laid eyes on all of Levi's tattoos. 

"None of your goddamn business, old man." came Levi's casual response as he got settled on the toilet while Kenny got out the clippers. 

"I guess I'm not really surprised that you'd have tattoos but... why the fuck did you get pink flowers?" he asked, stepping behind Levi as he started coming through his hair. The action was so familiar and nostalgic to him. 

"... They're a tribute to a dead friend." was all Levi said. 

"Oh, well, that's alright then." Kenny sniffed as he started shaving off some of the overgrown hair from Levi's undercut. "For a second there, I thought maybe you were--" 

"Gay?" the raven supplied helpfully. "You'd be surprised." 

"Whoa, hey, I don't need to know." Kenny rushed to say as he continued to trim Levi's hair. "I mean, I figured maybe you'd be married with a bunch of your own little runts by now." 

"Surprise." Levi snorted. "Not only am I still single and very much childless at the age of thirty-three, but I'm also gay as hell." 

"Well, shit." Kenny laughed. "I'm really glad I didn't have to deal with any of this shit now." 

The two men fell into an easy banter once Levi got a little more comfortable. He found Kenny's blunt, vulgar way of speaking familiar and almost comforting but it was when the man started cracking inappropriate jokes that he realized more of Kenny's habits had rubbed off on him than he originally thought. 

"Alright, you're all done, Runt." He wiped off whatever hair had fallen on Levi's back and shoulders with a fresh towel before stepping out from behind the shorter raven to put his clipper away. "You should feel better now that you've had a trim." 

"Thanks." Levi said as he stood up and rolled his shoulders before running a hand over the freshly shaved back of his head. Kenny had even trimmed his fringe just the way Levi liked it. "I've had so much going on lately that I haven't had time to cut it myself." he explained. 

"You know, kid, it's definitely not my place but I think you should call your friends back home." His uncle said suddenly, catching Levi off-guard. "I'm sure they're worried about you." 

Levi was silent as he grabbed his turtleneck and slipped it back on over his chilled skin. Kenny didn't push the topic either as he swept up the rest of the hair that had fallen on the floor after Levi had exited the bathroom. Once he was done, he met Levi out in the foyer where he was slipping on his coat and pulling out the new cell phone he bought a week ago, new number included. The raven checked the time and realized he'd been here a lot longer than he originally intended and he needed to book it back to the Hospice before Petra's kids arrived there. 

Turning on his heel while opening the front door, Levi glanced back at his Uncle who watched him from the step on the foyer, shoulder leaning against a wall and half-finished cigarette in his mouth. 

"... I'll think about it." he said in way of an actual goodbye. 

He left his old childhood home feeling oddly lighter, like a weight had been lifted off of him and while he knew things with his Uncle hadn't all been totally resolved, he felt satisfied in knowing that he let the man know where he stood when it came to his role in Levi's life and thankfully, Kenny had accepted that. It wasn't exactly what Levi had hoped to achieve by going back there but, it was a start.

\- X -

Meeting Petra's three children was exhausting and Levi had arrived back at his hotel room late in the evening. The first thing he did was shower, and while in the showering, he poured over the days events chronologically, starting with the visit to his Uncle's. Kenny's last words to him rang clearly in his head as he toweled off and changed into a fresh pair of clothes but he tried not to dwell on them too much.

He knew he should definitely call Hanji and talk to her about what she did but, first, he needed a warm meal in his stomach before he even considered calling anyone. He knew that conversation would be a real doozy and he needed to be prepared for it. So, he ordered room service, ate a decent meal and then settled down on the bed with his phone in his lap staring down at it. Minutes passed as he debated back and forth with himself whether or not he should do this or not. 

He'd already discussed it with Petra over the last few days and she had also told him to patch things up with his friends, then there was his Uncle who more or less gave him the same advice, though less wordy about it but Levi got the gist. The longer he waited, the more this would fester until he couldn't fix it anymore, though the petty part of himself thought he shouldn't have to be the one trying to fix this mess but thankfully, the more rational part of himself reasoned that he was the only one who could fix it because it wasn't like he was giving Hanji or anyone else a lot of options to try and fix it themselves. So, he had to take the first step. 

Taking a deep breath, Levi dialed the familiar number and held the phone up to his ear, waiting for the dial tone. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was a little annoyed at just how nervous he was about having this conversation but, at the same time, he just wanted it over with. It had been two and half weeks. That should have been enough time for him to calm down and think things over, and it had. 

The phone rang once, twice and then on the third ring, the line picked up and he took in a sharp breath waiting to hear that familiar voice say his name. 

_"Levi...?"_

He took a second or two to answer, doing his best to remember the reason for why he was calling so as to not let Hanji take control of the conversation and start spewing her endless apologies. 

"Before you say anything," He began. "I didn't call so I could hear you apologize to me. If I hear you tell me one fucking 'I'm sorry' I'm hanging up." he instructed firmly. 

He heard a choked noise on the other end of the line, a laugh mixed with a sob maybe, he couldn't be sure but that was most likely it. 

_"Okay. I promise I won't."_ came Hanji's relieved voice. _"I'm just so glad you called."_

"I told Erwin I just needed time to myself for awhile." he explained.

 _"No! No, I completely understand!"_ she rushed to say. Levi couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. That was so like Hanji. _"But, not to sound hysterical, are you alright? Erwin said he stopped by your place to check on you and you didn't answer."_

"Yeah," he started off hesitantly. "About that... I'm in Quebec right now." 

_"You're WHAT!?"_ Hanji squawked loudly. 

"Tch, you're too fucking loud!" Levi hissed back at her. 

_"What are you doing in Quebec? Is it because... is it because of me?"_ she asked, sounding about on the verge of tears. 

"No." Levi sighed, running a hand through his hair and rubbing at his freshly shaved undercut. "It's not because of you, or Eren. Before you start jumping to any weird conclusions. I got a letter from an old friend last week." he explained. 

_"An old friend? I thought you didn't have anyone left back home."_

"Neither did I." he chuckled. "But, turns out, there was a woman I used to know as a kid. Her name was Petra, she used to own a bookstore. Anyway, long story short, she tracked me down and wrote me to tell me that she was... dying." 

_"Oh..."_ was all Hanji said. 

"Yeah, and she mentioned wanting to see me one last time before, well, you know. So, I booked the earliest flight I could and made the trip up here to see her." 

_"And? How did everything go?"_

Levi hesitated because he couldn't believe how easy it was talking to Hanji again. He had thought he'd be too furious to even say more than two words to her but here he was about ready to spill everything to her. It just went to show that there was really no way in hell he could ever stay angry with her, no matter what she did, because in the end, Levi knew she was still like a sister to him and sometimes sisters pissed you off. That was kind of part of the job description of a siblings, wasn't it? 

"I met her three days ago and it was... I don't know. Meeting her again for the first time in over twenty years, sitting down and talking to her, it was like meeting the mom I never had." he said, throat tightening up slightly. "She told me that she tried to fight for me, Hanji. She wanted to adopt me as her own but my Uncle wouldn't let her." 

_"Oh, Levi, that's so great!"_

Swallowing thickly, Levi gave a sarcastic snort of laughter as he leaned back on the bed, phone cradled to his ear. "What's so great about it? Because of my Uncle, I was denied a possibly happy childhood with an actual family who wanted me and because he was a mean, selfish old fucker, I lost out on twenty years with Petra. Now that we've finally found each other again, she's dying of terminal cancer and I literally have no idea how much time I have left with her." 

He hadn't realized it, but tears of frustration started to stream down his face as he vented to Hanji about everything he'd discovered in the last few days since coming home and like a dam that had been broken, it all came pouring out of him. 

"And to top it all off, I went back to my old house and met my Uncle for the first time in literally decades. I didn't think the old bastard would still be alive but he was and we talked and I told him everything I wanted to say, how he was a horrible father-figure, how much he fucked up my life and how I resented him growing up. I got the satisfaction of seeing that guilty fucking look on his face when I told him how miserable I was, and you know what?" he paused, but Hanji said nothing. She had always been good at understanding when she needed to just shut up and let Levi vent. 

"He fucking admitted to everything and agreed with me that he was a horrible fucking person and a shit parent and for the first time in my life he called me by my name, Hanji. I saw tears in his eyes as he talked about my mom and how he didn't want to give me away to someone else because I was the last tie he had to her. I felt so sorry for him when I should have been furious for how he abandoned me." 

Wiping the tears that streaked his cheeks, he sniffled and regained his composure as Hanji remained silent and simply waited for him to either finish or continue. 

"... but, surprisingly, my uncle was the reason I decided to call you." he finally said, after a minute or two of silence that stretched and stretched. "I realized how important you and Erwin are to me. You know I'm no good with this emotional shit but, I shouldn't have to explain that I consider you two my family after all the shit we've been through together." 

It was Hanji's turn to cry this time, and Levi simply listened to her not-so-silent sobbing over the line. 

_"Levi, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like this. I thought I was helping but I know what I did was wrong and I'm just so happy you're talking to me at all."_ she cried. 

Levi had to stifle a laugh with his hand as more tears made themselves known and blurred his vision. 

"What the fuck did I tell you about saying you're sorry, four eyes?" he chuckled. 

Hanji joined in his laughter as well, though hers was mixed with hiccups and a few stray sobs as she sniffled loudly. _"I know, I know. Don't hang up on me or I'll be forced to fly to Quebec just to hug you to death."_

"I wouldn't put it past you, you crazy bitch."

 _"Speaking of, when are you coming back home?"_ she asked. 

Levi got very quiet before he finally spoke, "I, uh, I'm not sure. I was kind of hoping to be here until the very end with Petra, but, that could be anywhere from days, to weeks to months from now." he explained. 

_"So... you're staying?"_ she asked, voice small and quiet. 

"For the foreseeable future, yes." he said. "I just know that if I leave now instead of spending whatever time I can with her, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. So, I might look for a place here. I've been staying in a hotel room for the past couple of nights."

 _"But you HATE hotel rooms!"_ Hanji squeaked. 

"No shit. That's why I'm going to look for a place to stay for now." Levi said with a roll of his eyes. "Although, now that I've gotten in touch with my uncle, I thought about maybe moving in with him for a little while. The place is filthy but I figure with enough time, I could get that place up to my standards of cleanliness." 

_"But, Levi, what about Eren--"_

"Don't, Hanji." he sighed, stopping anything she might have to say. Just hearing his name was painful. "Just, don't. I already ended things with him. It's over." 

_"Oh, Levi."_ he heard her sigh. _"The poor kid's been miserable."_

"He'll get over it." Levi reasoned. "With enough time, he'll forget all about me and move on with someone else. It's for the best. Besides, I've got my own problems to worry about here. I don't have time to be thinking about a spoiled brat." 

_"Liar... but alright. I won't bring it up. What do you want me to tell him if he asks about you?"_

"Tell him the truth; I moved back to Quebec and I'm staying."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty happy with this chapter for several reasons, plus, I've been planning it for ages. Getting closer and closer to the end here!! 
> 
> I happened to be listening to the song **Nearly Curtains** by **Keaton Henson** for the last half of this chapter. Just a shout out to an amazing artist and an amazing song, if any of y'all wanna check that out.
> 
> P.S. I apologize for any typos! I'm posting this chapter in a rush!


	27. The Love You're Given

Time passed surprisingly quickly for Levi as he kept himself busy with visiting Petra everyday at the Hospice and helping his Uncle fix up his old house on weekends. Before he knew it, two months had gone by and he found himself oddly content with his life. Things weren't perfect, but he was making progress with a lot of things and for the first time in all his life, he didn't feel weighed down by that old, unspeakable weight. He felt like he had purpose in his life again. 

Moving in temporarily with his Uncle had been... interesting. It took Levi a couple of weeks to get used to the constant smell of smoke that seemed to be soaked into the walls now after years of Kenny's smoking. Still, despite that one little disgusting habit of his, Kenny was surprisingly easy to live with. If anything, Levi was probably the one who was hard to live with, what with his neurotic habits and his OCD about cleanliness. His Uncle didn't really seem to mind, however. When Sunday morning rolled around, Levi was awake, bright and early, as was his habit and Kenny was already in the kitchen making himself a cup of coffee. 

"Finally up, eh, Runt?" he said while stirring his coffee. "Don't you ever take a day to just sleep in?"

"Not unless I'm sick or hungover." he said by way of an actual morning greeting. This was their usual routine by now. Casual banter. "But, I am a little sore from painting the house yesterday." To emphasize his point, he rolled his shoulder and winced with how tight and strained the muscle felt. 

He heard Kenny snort quietly as he took a sip of his hot coffee, but otherwise the man didn't say anything. He'd been surprisingly complacent about Levi just dropping in and cleaning up the place and essentially moving in. Or at least, Levi assumed he was complacent about it. It's not like he'd actually stopped to ask Kenny how he felt about it and he didn't plan to.

"So, I'm assuming you'll be off to go and see that little red-head at the hospice again?" 

"Yeah. She hasn't been doing very well." Levi said with a sigh as he started making himself a cup of tea. "The doctors think she's got a couple of weeks left, tops. But Petra's still fighting." 

"No shit?" was Kenny's quiet question as he took a seat at the kitchen table. He already had the newspaper laid out in front of him, dark eyes skimming it casually. 

"..." Levi fell silent as he got lost in thought. He had enjoyed the past couple of months with Petra and he did anything he could to help out but, there were always days that were worse than others and he hoped today wouldn't be one of them. The whole point of a hospice was so that the dying could die in comfort and peace but sometimes Levi wondered.

"Don't beat yourself up too much, Runt. When it comes to shit like this, there's nothing anyone can do." His Uncle suddenly said. "Just help make her as comfortable as possible and keep visiting her. She seems to really like that." 

"Yeah..." the smaller raven agreed, throat a bit tight as he shook himself. "I guess that's true. I knew from the start she didn't have much time left but... I just wish I had come back sooner." 

Kenny sighed while setting his mug down, "Didn't I just say not to beat yourself up? People die, kid. Ain't nothing we can do about it. So just enjoy what time you have left with her. Don't go around bumming everyone out." 

"Ah, shut up, you old bastard." Levi grumbled. "Don't forget to take the pills I left for you on the night stand."

"I took em already." the older man grumbled back. "You're a worse nag than Kuchel ever was." he sighed. 

"Good to know." the raven snorted sarcastically. "Besides, what the fuck are you complaining about? I cleaned your house and fixed it up free of charge. The least you could do is put up with a little nagging." 

Levi watched as Kenny threw his head back in a booming, full-bodied laugh. If there was one thing he had come to learn about his Uncle in the past couple of months, the man was very loud, boarder line obnoxious. Still, it hadn't gone unnoticed by Levi that Kenny had put on quite a few pounds since he moved in and took over buying proper groceries. Levi still wasn't much of a cook but what little he could cook, Kenny ate without complaint. Overall, the man looked a bit healthier and he smoked a little less. 

"Ah, hell. You're right, runt. Anyway, I'm planning on fixing that damn leak in the upstairs bathroom but I've gotta make a trip to the hardware store." 

"I guess it would be too much to ask you not to piss someone off into kicking you out of the store?" Levi frowned. "Don't answer that."

Kenny simply flashed him a crooked grin before he was folding up his newspaper and polishing off whatever was left of his coffee while moving to dump the dirty mug in the sink. That was another bad habit Kenny had. He liked to leave his dirty dishes in the sink for hours until he finally got around to washing them. It drove Levi mad but he'd come to live with it, for now. 

"Well, give my regards or whatever to the little lady. I doubt she'll care but, eh." 

"How strangely polite of you." The raven said with an eye roll. "But, yeah, sure." 

"I'm off!" 

"Oi! What about your damn cats! They still need to be fed!" Levi shouted after him. 

"Nah, you can take care of it, can't ya?" Kenny called back from the foyer. Levi could already hear him opening the front door. 

"Feed your own damn animals!" he growled.

\- X -

"Hello, my little one." Petra greeted upon Levi entering her room with yet another new arrangement of Begonias. Her husband Oluo was sat by her bedside and he nodded his head toward Levi in acknowledgement.

"Good morning, Petra. Oluo." he nodded back. Oluo was... an interesting man. While he came off as a bit surly to most with a touch of arrogance, he simply melted around Petra and it was obvious how much he loved her with each look he gave. "Kenny sends his regards." 

"Oh?" Petra smiled. "That's very nice of him. How has he been doing?"

"Well, he's still breathing and according to him that's enough."

"That sounds like your uncle, alright." 

"More importantly, how are you feeling today?" Pulling up another chair, Levi took a seat by Petra's opposite bedside and regarded her with slightly concerned eyes. "Yesterday seemed tough on you." 

Oluo spoke first, "She says she feels a bit more energetic but I convinced her to rest today. No walks in the garden today." 

"Oh, Ollie! I told you I'm fine!" the red-head huffed, though Levi could hear the weariness in her voice. The months had certainly taken a toll on her and her hair had thinned considerably. 

"That might be for the best." Levi agreed with an apologetic smile.

"See?" the older man across from him huffed back at his wife. "Levi agrees with me."

"Fine." Petra pouted. "Since you're both so determined to keep me cooped up inside, I guess I'll just sit here and knit."

Levi and Oluo exchanged knowing smiles before the older man was standing up and leaning over to plant a sweet kiss on his wife's cheek. Petra continued to pout, even after her husband had left for the morning, Levi moving to take his spot sitting in front of her now. He tried to help her with her knitting, which resulted in him chuckling as he remembered when Eren's sweet mother tried to teach him. His quiet laughter drew Petra's attention and she was quick to start asking questions. 

"What's so funny?" she asked with a knowing grin. 

"I was just remembering how Eren's mom tried teaching me how to knit." he chuckled. "It ended in disaster." 

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Petra giggled. "You're doing alright now. But, tell me about Eren's parents. You've mentioned them before."

Taking a deep breath, Levi unraveled a little more of the baby blue yarn balled up in his lap before he spoke. "They live in Germany, in a beautiful little countryside village called Shiganshina. His father is a Doctor with his own practice. There used to be a bit of friction between Eren and his father because he wanted Eren to finish med school so he could take over the family practice but, they seemed to have resolved it." 

"Well, that's good." Petra hummed as she kept her attention on the yarn in her own lap along with the knitting needles. "What was his father like?" 

"To be honest, a little intimidating." Levi chuckled. "He didn't seem to like me when we first met but eventually he sat me down and we talked and I realized that he only had Eren's best interests at heart and after awhile, he warmed up to me. He can come off as stern and stand-offish, but then again, I've had the same thing said about me." 

"Not my little crow!" Petra gasped. "You're the sweetest thing, ever since you were a boy." 

"I haven't always been." the raven admitted. "I'm only on my best behavior because I don't want to disappoint you." he joked. 

"Nonsense." the older woman tittered. "You'll always be the sweet little boy who stumbled into my bookstore with dirt smudged on your cheeks and scrapes on your knees asking if you could help me carry a heavy stack of books." she said with a warm smile. Levi said nothing but he felt his heart quiver at her words. He had almost forgotten about that. "So, what about his mother? What is she like?" 

"So many questions." the raven said, faking exasperation as he leaned back in his seat. Petra swatted at him playfully and Levi smiled. "Carla was the sweetest. In a lot of ways, she reminds me of you." he admitted. 

"Oh? How so?" 

"She used to cradle my face in her hands, or hug me tightly or kissed my cheeks. She didn't even know me but she immediately started treating me like I was family. It was nice." Thinking back to his time spent with Carla, however brief, Levi couldn't help but recall the nickname she used for him. "She even had a pet name for me."

"Which was?" Petra asked with curious eyes and a patient smile. 

"It was german for 'Little Mouse'. I dare not utter it because I know I'd just fuck it up." At his slip up, the red-head settled Levi with a disapproving look and he was quick to make up for it. "Ah, sorry. Bad habit." 

Petra didn't scold him, instead simply gave him a knowing look with the tiniest of smiles before she returned her attention to her knitting. 

"She sounds lovely."

"She was." Levi agreed. "She and Eren share a lot of the same qualities." 

"Like what?" 

"Well, for starters, Eren is the spitting image of his mother but the similarities don't just end there. They're both extremely stubborn and quite hot-blooded. Carla could become quite terrifying when she was angry, which, thankfully, wasn't often. But, just like his mom, Eren is sweet and thoughtful..." 

"You miss him." was Petra's soft response. 

Swallowing thickly, Levi tried his best to power through the wave of melancholy that suddenly crashed into him as he spoke of his recent lover. "... I do." he admitted quietly. "But none of that matters." With a clearing of his throat, the raven stood up and smoothed down any wrinkles or creases in the baggy, cream-colored sweater he was wearing. "He deserved to be with someone better." 

"Levi." he heard Petra about ready to start chiding. She never liked it when he got down on himself like this and it never failed to cause her to scold him for not giving himself enough credit, but it was how he truly felt about himself. 

"I know, Petra." he said tiredly. "I need to stop putting myself down, but when it comes to Eren, it was really for the best and... I hope he's happy." 

"Oh, my precious little one..." the older woman sighed. "How can he be happy if he's not with you?" 

"What's that old saying? 'Time heals all wounds'?" Levi gave a wry little chuckle before he decided to abruptly change the subject by walking over to her window to let in some fresh air. 

"Would you like to know what my dying wish is?" he heard Petra ask from behind him as he struggled to push the window open. 

"Don't talk like that." he scolded her lightly. "You've still got plenty of time before you need to start thinking about your dying wish." 

"Levi, just listen." she huffed. Finally, the raven turned back to face her slowly, feeling his stomach sink and his heart tremble with sadness at the absolute sincere look of love and concern in Petra's large, amber eyes. "My wish is for you to be happy... with Eren." 

Inhaling sharply, Levi swallowed past a lump in his throat before he slowly walked back to Petra's bedside. Grabbing her thin, frail hand in his, the raven sat by her side, his other arm wrapping around her slender shoulders until she was leaning into his chest. Then he was kissing her temple and speaking softly. 

"I'm happy enough right here. "

"So stubborn." Petra tittered. "But, this also makes me happy."

"I'm going to be with you until the very end." he promised. 

"I know, my little crow." 

A silence fell over the room, with nothing but the gentle sound of the cold breeze outside rustling the foliage and blowing a few wind chimes. 

"Sing me that song again, won't you?" Petra suddenly asked, her voice tiny and frail. 

Without needing to be asked twice, Levi got comfortable on her bedside, using his free hand to cover Petra's exposed shoulder with the warm shawl Oluo had brought for her from home.

_"♪ On and on and on, we'll stay together, yeah_  
_On and on and on, we'll be together, yeah_  
 _You and I will try to stay together, yeah_  
 _Please don't cry, we're designed to die_  
 _Don't deny what's inside,_  
 _One day we'll disappear together in a dream_  
 _However short or long our lives are going to be,_  
 _I will live in you or you will live in me_  
 _Until we disappear together we will dream_  
 _Please don't cry, we're designed to die_  
 _We can't deny even the gentlest tie_  
 _On and on and on, we're going to try_  
 _Please dont cry, this world of words and meanings makes you feel outside_  
 _Something that you feel already deep inside, you deny, go ahead and cry_  
 _You and I, we'll stay together yeah_  
 _You and I will try to make it better, yeah ♪"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS!! It's Marry Me's (almost) 2 year anniversary! That's right, I started this monstrosity on May 2nd (my birthday) two years ago. Gosh, it doesn't even feel that long ago. This was just supposed to be a cute, lighthearted fic to get my mind off my personal issues at that time and now it's honestly turned into such an important fic to me and it's by far the one I hold closest to my heart! 
> 
> Anyway, yes, sorry this chapter took so long to finish and post. Being an adult is hard D': I have work all week and then a horrible video game known as skyrim has been horribly distracting me. IMSORRYFORBEINGAPIECEOFSHIT
> 
> Also, only a couple more chapters to go before the end!! AHHHHH!!! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!!


	28. Lover, Please Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _'♪Lover, I feel your sorrow pouring out of your skin_   
>  _I don't want to be alone, if I am tonight I'll always be_   
>  _So, take from me what you want, what you need_   
>  _Take from me whatever you want, whatever you need_   
>  _But, Lover, please stay with me...♪'_
> 
> **Lover, Please Stay (Live)** \- **Nothing But Thieves**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, the FINAL chapter of this arc! Can't believe we made it this far, but here it is!  
> This story holds such a dear place in my heart and it probably always will, but I'm so relieved to have finished it because it's been so long and I wanna thank all of you for joining me in all the ups and downs of this amazing story that has honestly impacted my own life so much! I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me and supporting me, leaving me such sweet, encouraging comments and sharing my happiness and grief over this story! I could not have done it without my fantastic readers pushing me! 
> 
> Also, to my incredible Partner in Crime who stuck by me from beginning to end and helped me plan this monstrosity. Paula, you're the light of my life and I definitely could not have finished this fic without you! I hope we can keep creating stories together for years to come! <333

Eren knew this was probably a very bad idea. From the moment he read the letter to Hanji and the woman began to suggest all these crazy plans, this one was probably the worst of them all. Still, at this point in time he figured he had nothing left to lose. The worst case scenario had pretty much already happened, so what more could possibly hurt?

"I'm still not entirely sure about this, Hanji." he mumbled. Eren was so incredibly anxious that he kept wringing his hands together as he sat on the plane waiting for it to take off. 

Hanji leaned forward a bit and noticed the way his leg kept bouncing up and down, to which, she reached over across Erwin's lap and clasped Eren's hands with one her own giving it a reassuring squeeze. Glancing up at her with wide, worried eyes, Eren was met with a comforting smile that helped calm some of the anxiety currently eating away at him. 

"Don't worry." Hanji said in a soft voice. "You read the letter from Petra. He still loves you."

Swallowing thickly, Eren took a deep breath and tried to relax. "Yeah..." he sighed. "I know that's what she said in the letter but... I haven't seen him in almost four months. What if... What if--" 

"Eren," Erwin spoke next. "Nothing good can come from overthinking. Petra was the one who suggested you fly to Quebec, so you know you've got at least one ally there." 

"Exactly!" Hanji chirped jovially. 

"Still," the blond grumbled. "I just want to let it be known, AGAIN, just how reluctant I was to let you fly when you're seven and a half months pregnant." Sending a pointed look at the sheepish brunette sitting near the window, Eren nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah, Hanji. Isn't it dangerous for you to fly when you're this far along?" he asked worriedly. 

"Ugh, are we going to argue about this again?" she huffed with a roll of her eyes. "I absolutely refuse to sit back home while something this important is happening!" she protested vehemently. Her outburst earned them a few curious stares from other flyers and Erwin and Eren sighed in unison. 

"Fine, but as soon as we land, you're going to find a bed and rest in it for the remainder of our time there."

"Hmm..." Hanji contemplated. "I'll consider it." she finally nodded. 

"Good lord." Erwin exasperated. Eren knew the poor man must be just as anxious as he was but for entirely different reasons. Mostly, it was because of his heavily pregnant wife on a plane. 

Sitting back in his own seat, Eren tried to relax by closing his eyes as their captain beeped in over the intercom to notify them of liftoff. Taking a few, deep, calming breaths, Eren decided to go over the past four months in his head since Levi left. It was better than him sitting there for the entire flight and thinking of the constant 'What if's and possible disastrous outcomes of this impromptu trip. 

After the break up, Eren had been more than a wreck. He couldn't remember a time when he ate or slept less in his entire life, but that first month was definitely it. It didn't help that he received a package from Levi containing all his things that he left at the shorter man's apartment, including the Guitar Levi had bought and serenaded him with. The guitar came a little later but it hurt just the same. For weeks, it sat in Eren's bedroom in a corner gathering dust because he couldn't bring himself to give it away or sell it. 

Hanji and Erwin had been his only saving grace, considering Hanji was just as miserable as he was. They had both lost Levi and together they found comfort in their conjoined grief over the matter. After awhile, however, Levi seemed to find it in himself to forgive Hanji because about a month or so after their break up she told Eren that she spoke to him, finally. That was when Eren learned that the man had left the country and had flown back home and that was the day Eren felt his world come crashing down. 

Of course, Hanji reassured him that the reason Levi left had nothing to do with him or their break up but Eren wasn't so easily convinced. He blamed himself greatly for having put so much stress on the man that he felt the need to leave the fucking country just to get away. It got to the point where Eren very nearly quit his job, or, well, he tried to. Erwin had been adamant about keeping him on board now that Levi was gone but it wasn't an easy feat, convincing him to stay. 

That was another thing, Work. It was bad enough that every time he entered the building and took the elevator up to his floor, Eren was reminded of the blatantly obvious absence of his former lover and boss. The first week had been the hardest by far, what with all his co-workers questioning him about Levi's absence and eventual resignation. Eventually, he just had to come clean and break the news that they were no longer involved and that the engagement was off, which of course left him feeling lower than he'd ever thought possible.

The months would drag on this way, with Eren burying himself with work and occasionally meeting Erwin and his pregnant wife for obligatory dinners, largely at Hanji's insistence. He knew that she was just trying to make sure he didn't feel all alone or abandoned but no matter how much time he spent with the happy couple or how much work he tried to distract himself with, Eren still felt so very fucking empty and it got worse every fucking day. 

But on the third month, about a week or so ago, he received a letter from someone in Quebec. Naturally, his first assumption was that it was from Levi but that hope came crashing down as soon as he read the sender's name. Petra Ral -- Eren recalled Hanji mentioning someone by that name not long ago. It wasn't until he read the letter that he finally understood everything; the reason for Levi suddenly picking up and leaving, why he hadn't heard a word about him in the last three months, why Hanji was oddly tight lipped about Levi and anything having to do with the man lately. 

After that, Eren had dropped everything and called Hanji to tell her about the letter. Petra had been brief in her explanation but very clear instructions for him to fly to Quebec and soon were the only important things. And that's how he ended up here, on a plane filled to the brim with anxiety and fear as they lifted off. He hoped and prayed to a higher being that when he touched down and finally saw Levi again that the man wouldn't push him away again... not again. Eren didn't think he could handle a second rejection.

\- X -

The flight to Quebec was shorter than Eren anticipated and he found himself wishing they hadn't arrived so soon. He still felt very unprepared for whatever he would face but, never one to shy away from the things that scared him and of course, never a quitter, Eren stepped off that plane with Hanji and Erwin in toe and got into the first cab they could get at the busy airport.

They only had the address for the hospice where Petra was currently staying, so that was obviously where they were going first, despite Erwin's protests over Hanji checking into a hotel first so that she could rest. It went without saying that the woman was having none of that, which was why she was accompanying Eren to the hospice and providing plenty of support and comfort the entire ride there. He was grateful to her, for so much, but he would find some way to repay her later. 

For now, he simply grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "I don't know how I would have gotten through this without you guys." Eren laughed breathlessly. 

Pulling him in for a hug, Hanji kissed his forehead before ruffling his hair and beaming widely at him. "Eren, how many times do we need to repeat ourselves? You're family! Family sticks together, through everything." 

Nodding his head in fierce agreement, Eren wiped away the tears that misted over his eyes before the car pulled into the driveway for the hospice. Seeing the small but very cozy little building come into his line of view, Eren felt his heart begin to pound wildly in his chest as he was once again consumed by near crippling fear and anxiety. Maybe just a pinch of panic as well, but he did his best to push all of those feelings down with sheer determination. What mattered was he was finally going to see Levi again after all this time, and hopefully, if what Petra said in her letter was true, he would be able to fix everything he couldn't fix before. 

"Ready?"Hanji asked him quietly. 

"Not really." Eren admitted honestly. "But, I'm going to go through with this anyway because when am I ever ready for anything, honestly?" he joked. 

"That's a good way to look at things." Erwin chuckled before getting out of the car first. 

Eren waited until Hanji left the car next, with some assistance, of course, before he finally decided this was it. This was the finish line and all he needed to do was cross it by stepping out of this car and risking it all.

\- X -

They found Petra's room fairly easily, thanks to the help of the sweet nurses at the front desk who gladly pointed them in the right direction. Now, the trio stood before her door, Hanji and Erwin hanging back a bit and gesturing for Eren to go in alone for now and that they would catch up with him later. Clearly, everyone could sense that this would be a very private meeting if ever there was one but he was a little thankful that not everyone would be witness to his embarrassment should things go wrong.

He raised his hand and hesitated for a bit before finally wrapping his knuckles against the wood of the door. Silence met him at first, which did nothing to quell the rising spikes of anxiety in his chest as he waited for some kind of response. 

Finally, a tiny voice could be heard from the other side of the door. "Come in."

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Eren grabbed the door handle and turned until it clicked and the door fell open before him. Slowly, he entered the surprisingly large and homey looking room. If he didn't know any better, he would think this was somebody's living room, not a hospice room. There was a large, soft looking couch against one wall and one big recliner in a corner with a pile of pillows and blankets. A spare bed to the back of the room that had been made with it's crisp white sheets folded neatly and an abundance of plants and flowers on window sills and end tables. Nothing about the room was expected, which was why Eren was only slightly startled when he heard a soft, tired voice call his name. 

"Eren."

Turning his head towards the source of the voice, Eren belatedly noticed the rather large hospital bed in the center of the room and the tiny, frail looking woman sitting up with plenty of pillows propping her up. She wasn't as old as Eren was expecting her to be, but it was hard to determine her exact age due to the washed out pallor of his face and the silk scarf that was tied around her head. Still, her warm, honey-brown eyes were what finally made him relax as he approached the bed slowly, setting his guitar case down against a chair so that he wouldn't bump into anything. 

"You... know who I am?" he asked, voice smaller and quieter than he would have liked.

The woman giggled, "Of course." she said with a gentle smile. "How could I ever forget your face? You're all my little crow talks about these days." 

"Little crow?" Eren questioned with a smile of his own. "You mean...?" 

"Yes." Petra nodded. "I'm sorry I can't stand up to greet you properly." she said with sad look on her face. "Terminal Cancer tends to have that effect."

Swallowing, Eren finally took a seat in the chair that was situated next to Petra's bedside. He watched as the woman closed the book that was open in her lap while removing the reading glasses that had been perched on the bridge of her nose. 

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." Eren apologized. "I was surprised when I received your letter. I didn't think that..." he broke eye contact with Petra in order to look down at his hands in his lap when he couldn't finish his sentence. 

To his surprise, he felt a tiny, warm hand cup his cheek and it prompted him to look up at the woman who smiled so lovingly at him. Like she had known him his entire life and vice versa. There was just something so inviting and warm in Petra's eyes that Eren immediately leaned into the touch and smiled. 

"Don't apologize." she chuckled. "I'm so very tired of hearing everyone tell me they're sorry. For once, I want someone who won't look at me with such pitying eyes. Even Levi can't help but blame himself for my condition. As though he were the cause of it." she laughed. 

Chuckling, Eren grabbed Petra's hand and held it in his own gently. He noticed that the woman had mother's hands, so easily noticeable in the slightly weathered look but also in the delicate grace. 

"That sounds like Levi, alright." Eren said quietly. "I wish I could have met you sooner."

"I do, too." she sighed. "But, well, I feel like I know so much about you already."

"It would seem you have me at a disadvantage." the brunet smiled. "It's only fair you tell me about yourself, Petra."

"Oh," Petra smiled while swatting at Eren playfully. "I see you're quite the charmer. No wonder my little one fell so hard."

Smile growing, Eren held her hand firmly. "Tell me everything." he said, and Petra did. 

She told him everything she could about herself -- about her girlhood, about her bookstore, about meeting Levi as a child and caring for him when no one else would. They sat and talked for hours, with Hanji and Erwin eventually coming in to see how everything was going. It went without saying that Petra was absolutely thrilled to meet the couple, especially Hanji. 

The whole thing was very heartwarming, with Petra shedding a few tears when she finally got to meet all the people Levi said were so near and dear to him. His family that he had collected over many trying years of being alone. 

"I'm so glad I got to meet all of you." the older woman sniffled. Erwin was quick to hand her a tissue to dry her tears. "After hearing so many stories, it's nice to know that the people they were about are actually just as wonderful as Levi said they were."

"Speaking of," Erwin said. "Where is he? It's getting late."

Eren held his breath as he waited for Petra to answer. "Oh, he already came by this morning. He always spends the night with me but he had something he needed to do at his Uncle's house." 

"Oh..." Hanji deflated. "We were hoping to see him but, I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

Eren was disappointed by this news, of course he was, but at least this gave him a little more time to prepare. He felt more confident now that he'd met and spoken with Petra. After everything she told him, there was no doubt in his mind that Levi must have still felt something for him. 

"Actually," Petra started. "I know the address to where he's staying with his Uncle." she said with a smile in Eren's direction. "If you're really that eager to see him, I could give you directions." 

Exchanging looks with Hanji and Erwin, the couple smiled knowingly at him before Hanji nodded her head. "You're ready, Eren. You've been practicing for weeks."she said. 

Glancing over at the guitar case leaning up against the chair, Eren stared at it for one long moment before sighing and giving the brunette a relenting smile.

"Okay," he said. "Okay."

\- X -

The house was exactly where Petra said it would be, right on the corner of Stohess and Mitras. It was a large, two-story home with fresh white paint and dark gray trim. Petra had mentioned that Levi was helping his Uncle fix the old place up and Eren had to admit, it looked pretty good. The roof was still a bit in disrepair and most of the windows were still boarded up, but for the most part, it looked livable.

He walked up the freshly paved driveway, shoes crunching against dead leaves as he made his way toward the front porch with his guitar case mounted on his back. He didn't know what to expect when he finally got to the door, but he figured he would jump off that bridge when he got there. For now, he simply tried to calm himself enough to stop his hands from trembling as he hesitantly raised his knuckles to knock against the paint of the door.

He stood there for what felt like hours, debating whether or not this was a good idea, of which he already knew it wasn't so he had his answer but he refused to give up before even trying. Not after he had already promised Petra that he would do this. If he couldn't do this for himself, he would at least keep that promise to the sweet woman who went through so much trouble just to get him here. He couldn't quit before he even crossed the finish line. 

So, with renewed resolve and determination, Eren knocked firmly on the white paint of the door once, twice, three times before he took a step back and waited. The waiting was the worst part, he reasoned. It felt like eons before he finally heard a lock click from the other side of the door and the turn of the doorknob which prompted him to inhale sharply and hold his breath as he waited for the door to open and reveal... a tall, lanky man with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. 

"What the hell do'ya want?" he groused. "If you're selling something, we don't want it." 

Swallowing, Eren tried to find the ability to speak as he released that breathe he had been holding in while his tense shoulders relaxed. 

"Um, no, I'm not here to sell something." he explained nervously. "I'm... looking for Levi. Is he here...?" 

The man eyed him skeptically for a long moment before he raised his hand to pluck the cigarette from his mouth. 

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously. "What do you want with the runt?"

As he opened his mouth to answer, Eren heard the sound of footsteps crunching up the driveway from behind him and he turned just in time to see Levi hurrying up the porch steps with grocery bags in his arms. Seeing the shorter raven for the first time in what felt like ages, he let out a breath in disbelief before Levi finally looked up from the ground and saw him. 

The other man came to a full stop, grocery bags balanced in his arms and eyes drinking in what surely must have been a shocking surprise waiting for him at the front door. 

"... Eren?" Levi breathed out, a puff of vapor following his name.

"Levi." Eren couldn't help but say with a smile. In that moment, he was just so happy and relieved to see the raven again after such a long time. Four months might not seem like very long but for Eren, it had been the equivalent to an endless eternity.

"You know this kid?" Levi's Uncle asked from the doorway. 

All too quickly, Levi broke eye contact, choosing instead to stare down at the wooden panels of the front porch that had recently been replaced. Seeing Levi look away from him made Eren's heart sink, but it just cemented his resolve even more. He would not just turn and walk away like he did last time. He would fight because he didn't know how to do anything else at this point. Even if Levi yelled and screamed at him to go away or threw rocks at him, he wouldn't budge.

"He's just a colleague from work. Go inside." Levi grumbled as he side-stepped Eren to walk inside. 

"Levi, wait." the brunet tried. "I need to talk to--" 

"There's nothing to talk about." the raven said curtly. "You shouldn't have come here."

The man who had answered the door had already left the foyer to some part of the house Eren couldn't see but that only left room for the raven to hurry into the foyer where he deposited the grocery bags on a small table in the entryway before he finally turned and face Eren, falling into a familiar pose of crossed arms over chest and weight shifted onto one foot. 

"Levi..." Eren begged. "Please. Just... just listen." 

"No, you listen." Levi snapped. "I've already told you that this thing is going nowhere and that it's best for the both of us if you just forgot all about me, but you're too fucking stubborn to do that." 

Feeling his anger get the better of him, Eren clenched his hand into a tight fist and used it to bang against the wall as he said his next words. 

"Because I still love you, goddamn it!" 

Seeing the slightly taken aback look on Levi's face as he blurted that out, Eren had hoped that maybe this was the push that the raven needed in order to finally see reason. To see that this was all so fucking ridiculous and that they belonged together, but all too soon Eren saw that indifferent mask sliding back into place, effectively shutting him out as Levi took a step back and began closing the door slowly. 

"Well," he said quietly. "... I don't." Then the door was clicking shut as Levi disappeared behind it, leaving Eren standing on the porch cold and heartbroken.

\- X -

**Levi P.O.V.**

This was such fucking nonsense. Levi couldn't believe that Eren was actually here standing on his front fucking porch! How did he even find him? Did Hanji give him the address? No, that couldn't be it because even Hanji didn't know the address of Levi's childhood home. No one did. So, he was even more frustrated and confused as to why Eren fucking Jaeger was standing on his damn doorstep making proclamations of love at nearly 9pm.

Resting his forehead against the cool of the door, Levi had to take a moment just to regroup and collect himself because this was all a little too overwhelming. His heart was racing but at the same time, he felt like his stomach was about to fall out of his ass. It was hard to swallow and in the blink of an eye, Levi was right back in the emptiness of his apartment wallowing in his own sorrow and woe over Eren once more.

He was so sick and fucking tired of feeling like this. He hated how ever after all this time, Eren still had such a strong effect on him. Levi thought he was finally moving on, he thought he was doing better since coming out here, but all it took for him to come crashing down was seeing Eren's face and hearing him say his name. Damn it... 

Levi didn't even notice when he started crying until it was too late. There was no stopping the onslaught of conflicted feelings in his chest as he clenched his hands into fists and leaned heavily against the paint of the front door. On the one hand, he wonder if Eren was still standing just on the other side of this damn door feeling just as shitty as Levi felt, if not worse, but on the other hand he also hoped that the brunet would finally see sense and walk away while he still could. Levi already knew how this story would end, and it wasn't happily ever after. Life wasn't a fairy tale.

[ **(X)** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-IMV8j_oU)

_'♪So hard to see that hurt on your face_

_Hold me, I'll help you carry the weight_

_I'm right here... I'm your escape ♪'_

Too busy buried in his own stormy thoughts, Levi hadn't even noticed when a soft, sweet melody started drifting in from the other side of the door. It was unmistakably Eren's voice but would Levi even dare to hope?

_'♪ Think about our distance everyday_

_Holding your spear keeps you away_

_I'm right here... Please, turn my way_

_Without your love my whole world is gray_

_With a lonely heart, no I can't think straight_

_Arms are strong, yeah, I'll keep you safe_

_Let me show you..._

_Oh, my baby, I've been dying here on the other side_

_Oh, my baby, Will you heal the pain in my troubled mind?_

_I'll be waiting 'till the end of time just to feel your light_

_Oh, my baby, I've been dying here on the other side ♪'_

Using the sleeve of his sweater to wipe his tears, Levi finally straightened from his leaning position against the door and hesitantly reached for the doorknob. Did he dare...? If he opened this door, he would be giving up everything he'd fought to forget all these months. If he opened this door, he'd be admitting defeat. If he opened this door... he could possibly find happiness in the arms of the one person he wanted for the rest of his life.

Taking a deep breath, Levi was about to release the doorknob, when he heard the sound of Kenny's voice drift in from the living room. 

"If you don't open that damn door and stop that singing, so fucking help me..." the old man grumbled. This prompted a smile from Levi as he finally relented and moved to open the door. 

Sitting on the cold, wet concrete was Eren with the guitar that Levi had gifted to him what felt like years ago now. Upon seeing him open the door, the brunet donned a brilliant smile, one that had Levi's heart melting and his tears returning because, holy hell, he never thought he'd see that smile for as long as he lived and that thought killed him. Now, it was right in front of him and he could easily reach out and take it for himself.

_'♪Lying down, freezing on this concrete floor_

_Dreaming's tough, I need to feel your warmth_

_I'm right here... just come to shore_

_Without your love my whole world is gray_

_With a lonely heart, no, I can't think straight_

_Arms are strong, yeah, I'll keep you safe_

_Let me show you... ♪'_

Levi watched as Eren slowly approached the porch once more, taking the steps one by one but smiling the entire way as he closed the distance between them inch by inch. As he continued to pluck at strings, the gap got smaller and smaller until Eren was less than two feet from Levi who looked down at his feet and smiled.

"♪Oh, my baby, I've been dying here on the other side... ♪" Eren sang in a soft voice. "♪Oh, my baby, will you heal the pain in my troubled mind? ♪"

All at once, Eren stopped playing the guitar as Levi finally took the final step and closed the little remaining gap between them before he wrapped his arms around Eren's neck, pulling him down into a rough kiss. Their lips crashed together in a clash of noses and teeth and it was like taking a breath of fresh air for the first time. After months of being without them, Levi craved these lips more than life itself and he kissed Eren like there would be no tomorrow. 

Thankfully, Eren kissed him back with just as much fervor, if not more. He abandoned the guitar, adjusting it so that it was strapped to his back now as he wrapped both of his arms around Levi's torso to bring their bodies closer together. Levi had missed this contact, he missed the heat of Eren's skin against his and now that they were finally touching, it just didn't seem to be enough. He wanted more... needed to be closer even though they were practically entwined by now. 

They only pulled away when Kenny walked out into the foyer to see why it suddenly got so quiet and the sound of his snort was what prompted the couple to stop kissing long enough to take a breath.

"Well, I didn't need to see that, but at least you got him to stop that damn singing." Kenny smirked before walking back into the house. 

Levi smiled against Eren's lips and the brunet laughed before diving in for one more lingering kiss before they reluctantly separated. The raven adjusted Eren's wrinkled clothing, smoothing them down before he stopped to stare up into those beautiful pools of endless sea green waters. 

"You're an idiot, you know that?" he huffed. 

"I'm a lot of things," Eren grinned. "Including, hopelessly in love with you, so get used to it because this time... I'm not going anywhere." It was said with such fierce determination that Levi needed to take a moment to just let that sink in. 

"You're unbelievable." he chuckled. "After everything I put you through... after all the shit I said to keep you away."

"It hurt," the brunet admitted with a shrug. "Of course it did. But, when I think about a lifetime without you by my side, that hurt more than any of your attempts to drive me away."

Their hands quickly fell into a familiar linked position as Levi led Eren to the porch steps so they could sit and talk. It was cold outside but Eren remedied that problem by pulling Levi close into his side and wrapping him in the thick parka he was wearing. It also didn't hurt that Eren naturally ran hot so his extra body heat helped ward off the nipping chill of the night air. 

"I can't believe Petra did all that." Levi huffed after hearing Eren's explanation of how he got here in the first place. "To think, I didn't even know what she was planning and I spend more than half my time with the woman." he chuckled. 

"She's sweet." Eren hummed. "I'm glad I got to meet her, you know, before..."

"So am I." Levi admitted, turning to kiss Eren quickly on the lips.

They sat there for awhile longer, holding each other close, exchanging loving kisses and just relishing in others touch that they had gone so long without. He could have stayed sitting on that porch for what seemed like hours but the cozy little atmosphere they built was soon broken when Levi's cell phone buzzed violently in his back pocket, prompting him to shift awkwardly so he could retrieve it. Reading the name that appeared on the screen, Levi felt his heart drop as he turned to see Eren giving him a worried look. 

"It's... the hospice." Levi croaked. "Oh, fuck, I'm not ready for this..." 

"I'll answer it, if you want." Eren suggested softly. 

Swallowing thickly, Levi took a moment to brace himself before he shook his head and swiped his thumb across the screen to answer the call. 

"...Yes?" he answered as evenly as he could. 

_"Levi?"_ the familiar voice of one of the nurses he had come to know quite well said. _"Miss Ral's condition suddenly declined rapidly. We're calling all family members and next of kin so that you can come and be with her in her final moments."_

Feeling his throat closing up, Levi nodded his head slowly before he was able to force spit down his throat. "I see... Thank you. I'll be there soon."

Ending the call, Levi sat there for a few moments in detached shocked before Eren hugged him close and kissed his forehead. Levi couldn't have been more grateful to have someone to lean on in this situation because he he received this call when he was still alone, he didn't think he would have handle it very well. 

"Let's hurry back to the hospice." he murmured into his hair. 

"Yeah." Levi nodded numbly. "Okay."

\- X -

Petra's last moments were long and drawn out, with all her loved ones surrounding her and sharing tearful goodbyes. Levi was of course among her children who all welcomed him with tight hugs and hiccuping sobs, even Oluo who was normally so reserved except for when he was in the presence of his wife.

Eren had mentioned that Hanji and Erwin were there, to which Levi was surprised by because Eren had failed to mention that earlier.But, he was grateful that he would get to say goodbye to Petra alone because he was barely holding himself together at this point and he just knew that when she was gone, he would be a wreck. 

The room had cleared out and soon it was just the two of them. Petra had her oxygen mask removed by now and she was breathing shallowly. Levi approached her bedside and took a seat as he grabbed her hands and kissed them softly.

"My... little one." she tried smiling.

"Shh." Levi shushed her. "I'm here, Petra."

Pressing her tiny, weak hands to his cheek, Levi felt fresh tears line his eyes as he leaned over to kiss her forehead. Petra looked ready. That was the best way Levi could describe her in that moment. Like she had finally made peace with everything in her life and she was ready to face this new journey. That was how she always phrased her inevitable passing -- a new journey. 

"Eren...?" was all the woman had the energy to ask and Levi smiled.

"I saw him." he assured her. "He told me you two finally met." Seeing another smile cross her face, Petra let out a sigh as she closed her eyes and Levi continued to talk in a soft tone, telling her about how Eren was happy to meet her and how wonderful he thought she was. 

Levi would stay talking until the nurse finally came in and announced her passing, though, even then, Levi held her hand in his and wished her luck on her new journey because he knew it would be a good one. Though his heart was breaking from having lost the mother he always wanted, he also felt oddly at peace himself. As Petra's family filtered back into the room, Levi decided to leave them to their mourning in private. 

Stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind him, He rolled his head back and closed his eyes while taking a deep, steadying breath. His tears had long run dry but he still found it difficult to swallow as he finally shook himself and stepped away from the door. He decided to seek out Eren and the others because he was in desperate need of some familiar faces and, well, he would be a damn liar if he said he wasn't looking forward to seeing Hanji and Erwin again after so many months gone. As he walked toward one of the waiting areas, Levi wondered just how big Hanji's belly must be by now. He still couldn't believe the crazy woman had gotten on a damn plane while she was seven and half months pregnant with twins, for fuck's sake.

"Oh, Levi!" one of the nurses at the front desk called out to him frantically. "I'm so glad I found you!" 

Blinking in confusion at the overly animated nurse who was flagging him down, Levi approached the desk. "What it is?" he asked worriedly. 

"Your friends, ah, um, the pregnant woman with the tall blond man?" she said. "Well, she seems to have gone into early labor and they rushed her to the hospital down the street."

"What!?" Levi exclaimed. "When? How long ago?" he urged. 

"Ah, oh, um -- about half an hour ago or so?" the nurse said sheepishly. "They asked me not to disturb you!" 

"Shit!" without thinking, Levi bolted out of the hospice and didn't even bother calling a cab. If it was the hospital he thought it was, he knew exactly where it was.

The cold air stung his face and burned in his lungs but Levi didn't care as he raced the whole way down the block until he saw the large hospital come into view. Cutting through the emergency parking lot, he was almost clipped by a truck who's driver honked angrily at him for rushing in front of the car out of nowhere. The raven simply flipped them the bird before he hurried into the emergency exit nearly slamming into the check in desk, startling the nurse. 

"Maternity ward?" Levi struggled to say through his heavy breathing.

Blinking at him owlishly, she pointed to her right and Levi was sprinting with the nurse calling after him. "Take a right as soon as you go through the double doors!" she yelled. 

It took him some time, which was largely due to the fact that Levi got lost a couple of times on the way but when he finally found the maternity ward, he slowed his run down to a brisk jog as he searched the waiting rooms until he saw a familiar brunet sitting hunched forward, head in hands and knee bouncing up and down anxiously. 

"Eren..." he panted as he entered the empty room of sofas and chairs. "What... happened?" he asked tiredly. Now that he was here, the strain of running an entire block in what was probably record time was starting to hit him and Levi hunched forward, holding his knees as he tried to catch his breath. 

"Levi?" Eren squawked. "Did you run the whole way here?"

"Duh." was Levi's snarky retort. 

"You're insane!" the brunet said as he stood up from his chair and walked over to wrap his arms around Levi's chilled body. "You could have gotten hypothermia or something!" 

"It was... just a block down. Not like I was running a marathon... ass naked."

"It's about twenty degrees outside right now." 

Ignoring Eren's unimpressed glare, Levi gladly accepted the warm parka that was draped over his shoulders. It smelled like Eren and he loved it. 

"How's she doing? Is Erwin in there with her?" he asked. 

"Yeah, Erwin's with her. She's okay, as far as I know." 

Nodding his head at this new information, Levi took a couple of minutes to catch his breath and cool down before he spoke again. 

"What the fuck happened? She's not due for another month."

"The on-call doctor said it was probably due to stress that she went into labor early. We were in one of the waiting rooms at the hospice and I was getting Hanji some warm tea when she started getting sharp contractions, so Erwin called an ambulance and carried her out of the hospice. It was incredible, you should have seen him." Eren laughed.

"Oh, I'll bet it was." Levi smiled. "Fuck, I can't believe this is happening." he cursed.

"I know." Eren smiled at him. "You're going to be an uncle."

Reaching over and taking one of Eren's hands into his own, Levi squeezed it and leaned in to kiss his jawline. 

"We're going to be Uncles." he said quietly. Levi chuckled when he saw Eren's eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline in surprise at his words. "What? Didn't you say you weren't going anywhere this time? Or was that all talk?" 

"N-No!" the brunet stammered. "I'm just... surprised is all. Does this mean... you want me to stay?" he asked hesitantly. 

"I want you to stay." Levi said sincerely. "I want to move in together, I want to have a real engagement. I want to go house hunting and... I want to marry you and raise a family of our own." he admitted. 

"Pets?" Eren asked hopefully.

"I'll consider a dog..." Levi said with a roll of his eyes. "No cats."

Chuckling, Eren leaned down and captured Levi's lips in a sweet kiss that left the raven a bit boneless. 

"Just say when, and I'll marry you in a heart beat." he whispered against Levi's lips, prompting a smile from the raven. 

"When." Levi murmured back before kissing him again.

\- X -

Eleven agonizing hours of labor later, Erwin was hurrying into the waiting room looking absolute exhausted but overjoyed as he startled a dozing Eren and Levi who had fallen asleep together in one of the only love seats in the room.

"I'm a daddy!" Erwin grinned from ear to ear. "I can't believe it. Our babies are here!" he laughed a bit hysterically. "I'm a father!"

Blinking away sleep from his eyes, Levi sat up and sucked his teeth. "Nobody cares about that." he huffed. "How's Hanji? Did she get through the labor alright?" 

"She's fine." Erwin nodded. "Oh, you should have seen her in that delivery room. What a trooper!" the blond gushed. "If it's possible, I'm even more in love with her for giving birth to my two beautiful babies." 

"That's great, Erwin." Eren sat up with a yawn. "Congratulations."

"She's resting right now, but you can come in if you want." 

"Nah," Levi said with a shake of his head. "Let her sleep. We'll come in and visit her once she's gotten some sleep." 

"You should get some sleep too." Eren smiled at Erwin. 

"I'm too excited to sleep." the blond admitted. "I just can't stop staring at the babies. They're so amazing." 

"You know," the raven grumbled. "I'm starting to think that you'd think even a turd is amazing at this point."

As promised, Levi and Eren let Hanji sleep a little while longer while they continued to squeeze in several power naps over the next few hours before Erwin was coming back into the waiting room to usher them into Hanji's room. When they walked in, Hanji was sitting up in bed with both babies in her arms, rocking them back and forth while cooing at them softly. 

"Looks like you've got your hands full." Levi joked as he walked up to her bedside.

"Yes, I do." Hanji cooed back. "But I don't care because just look at these two little precious things, Levi."

"Oh, no." the raven huffed. "One of them is already starting to look like Captain Eyebrows over there."

Eren snorted a laugh and Erwin simply brushed the slight off, much too elated to be annoyed with anything at the moment. It was so clear to anyone who saw them that despite the exhaustion, Hanji and Erwin were floating on cloud 9. They both just couldn't stop staring at their twins and Hanji was extremely reluctant to let them go. 

"Good job." Levi said as he stroked back some of Hanji's hair and kissed her on her temple. "You're a mom now." 

"God, I am, aren't I?" she sighed with a smile. "I still can't believe it. I'm a mother." 

Eren stepped up to Levi's side and wrapped an arm around the shorter raven's waist as he leaned forward to coo at one of the babies. 

"So, have you thought of names for them yet?" he asked.

"Penelope for our baby girl." Hanji beamed. 

"Percival for our little boy." Erwin continued. 

"You're setting that kid up to be bullied with a name like Percival, Erwin." Levi snorted. "At least Penelope is normal."

"Percival is a perfectly normal name." the newest father huffed defensively. "Besides, it was my great-grandfather's name."

"Was your great-grandfather also a Knight of the Round Table?"

"Levi," Eren chided him lightly. "Leave him alone." he chuckled. 

"Thank you, Eren." Erwin said with a grateful nod. "It's good to know that Levi had someone to keep him in check from now on." 

"You two _ARE_ back together, aren't you?" Hanji asked with a waggle of her eyebrows. 

Linking their hands together, Levi looked up at Eren who smiled back at him. "Yeah," he said. "We're gonna stick it out this time." 

"Good!" Hanji grinned. "Because you're both going to be the god father's to our babies. Say hello to your god children, boys!" 

Laughing as Hanji passed him baby Penelope to Levi and Erwin passing Percival to Eren, Levi released their linked hands so that He and Eren could cradle the babies to their chests securely. He watched as the brunet rocked Percival in his arms gently, all the while letting Penelope's tiny, tiny hand grip onto his index finger tightly. It was in that moment that Levi could literally see the start of the rest of his life. Right there. He could see all the pieces falling into place and he liked the picture they were forming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE DID IT! We made it to the FINAL chapter of this long, long journey that has honestly been such a joy for me. Thank you all for sticking by this fic for so long! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> **BUT, WAIT! THERE'S MORE!** While this is the last chapter of the story, I will be posting an epilogue sometime later, whenever I get around to writing it. It's something I've been planning for awhile and it's just a little thank you to all my readers for being so faithful to this fic. I hope you all enjoy reading about Levi and Eren's married life in the next and (actually) final chapter of this fic! Look forward to it!  <333


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